In the pursuit of equity growth, executives often focus on adding features or cutting costs. Yet, a more powerful, often overlooked, driver of value lies in a simple question: How easy are you making it for your customers to get their job done? The answer is the key to creating a customer's willingness to pay. In fact, research shows 88% of customers are likely to spend more with a company that offers an effortless experience.

Most companies miss the direct connection between customer effort and revenue. They track disparate metrics but fail to identify the one most predictive of future spending. At thrv, we use our proprietary and patented Jobs to be Done (JTBD) method to understand this financial impact of the Customer Effort Score (CES). We show how our portfolio companies use CES not just as a metric, but as a core component of their growth engine. By systematically reducing customer effort, they increase loyalty, command higher prices, and ultimately create equity value.

Table of Contents

• Defining the Core Concepts for Growth
• What is Willingness to Pay (WTP)?
• What is Customer Effort Score (CES)?
• The Direct Link: Why Low Effort Drives Loyalty and Spending
• The Psychology of an Effortless Experience
• The Hard Data: CES as a Predictor of Revenue
• Calculating the Financial Impact of Reducing Customer Effort
• Our Framework for Measuring the ROI of CES Improvement
• How We Use CES to Identify Premium Service Opportunities
• Segmenting Customers by Effort
• Creating Tiers Based on Willingness to Pay for Speed and Accuracy
• Actionable Methods We Use to Reduce Customer Effort
• Real-World Application: How We Reduced Effort to Create Value
• Conclusion: Effort is a Direct Input to Revenue
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Defining the Core Concepts for Growth

To build a durable growth strategy, leaders must operate with precise definitions. Vague goals lead to wasted resources. In our work with portfolio companies, we focus on two fundamental concepts that directly connect customer experience to financial performance: Willingness to Pay and Customer Effort Score.

What is Willingness to Pay (WTP)?

Willingness to Pay (WTP) is the maximum price a customer is prepared to pay for a product or service. As explained by Harvard Business School Online, it represents the boundary between the perceived value of a solution and the point at which a customer decides the cost is too high. A higher WTP is a direct indicator of strong product-market fit and pricing power, which are essential for creating equity value.

What is Customer Effort Score (CES)?

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the amount of work a customer must exert to get their Job to be Done. Within our Jobs-to-be-Done framework, we measure effort based on the speed and accuracy with which a customer can execute each step of their job.

A high CES indicates that customers are struggling. They are spending too much time and encountering errors, creating significant friction. A low CES, conversely, means the process is fast, accurate, and seamless. This is the metric that most directly impacts a customer's decision to return and spend more.

The Direct Link: Why Low Effort Drives Loyalty and Spending

While many teams track a wide array of metrics, CES has proven to be the most reliable indicator of future revenue. The logic is simple: customers reward companies that respect their time and help them achieve their goals efficiently.

The Psychology of an Effortless Experience

High-effort experiences are frustrating and create negative brand associations. When a customer has to search extensively for information, repeat themselves to support agents, or correct errors, their perception of value plummets.

An effortless experience does the opposite. It builds confidence and trust. By helping a customer achieve their goal quickly and accurately, a product becomes a reliable tool, not a source of friction. This positive feeling is directly tied to loyalty and future purchasing behavior.

The Hard Data: CES as a Predictor of Revenue

The connection between effort and revenue is not theoretical. The data is conclusive:

• Loyalty and Repurchase: Gartner research reveals that 94% of customers who have a low-effort interaction intend to repurchase from that same company
• Disloyalty and Churn: Conversely, a high-effort interaction results in a 96% chance of a customer becoming disloyal
• Increased Spending: According to Zonka Feedback, 88% of customers report they are likely to spend more with a company that provides an effortless experience
• Predictive Power: CES is 1.8 times more predictive of customer loyalty than other common metrics
  
  

This data confirms that reducing customer struggle is one of the most effective ways to secure recurring revenue and increase customer lifetime value.

Calculating the Financial Impact of Reducing Customer Effort

We don't just measure CES; we connect it directly to financial outcomes. This allows the executive teams at our portfolio companies to prioritize initiatives based on projected ROI. For leaders aiming to prove the value of product innovation, this is a critical process.

Our Framework for Measuring the ROI of CES Improvement

Calculating the financial return on effort reduction involves a clear, multi-step process:

1. Establish a Baseline: We use our method for measuring CES to survey customers and identify the CES for critical job steps. This gives our portfolio companies a baseline score for key areas of their product.
2. Correlate CES with Behavior: We analyze customer data to link CES scores to financial behaviors. For example, we determine the average annual spend of customers with low CES scores versus those with high CES scores.
3. Model the Impact of Improvement: We calculate the potential revenue gain from improving CES. If customers with low effort spend 15% more per year, a 10-point reduction in overall CES could translate into a specific revenue target.
4. Prioritize Roadmap Initiatives: We use this model to prioritize product roadmap features. A feature that addresses a job step with a high CES score and impacts a large customer segment becomes a top priority due to its clear path to revenue.

This data-driven approach moves budget conversations from opinion-based debates to objective business cases, helping teams secure the resources needed for accelerated growth.

How We Use CES to Identify Premium Service Opportunities

High Customer Effort Scores are not just problems to be solved; they are signals of unmet needs that represent significant growth opportunities. By analyzing where customers struggle most, our portfolio companies can identify segments willing to pay a premium for a superior, low-effort solution.

Segmenting Customers by Effort

Our AI-powered platform analyzes CES data to segment markets based on struggle. Instead of relying on traditional demographics, we group customers by the difficulty they experience in getting their job done.

For example, a segment of users might report a very high CES for the job step, "determine financial implications of business decisions." This indicates a high degree of struggle and an urgent, unmet need.

Creating Tiers Based on Willingness to Pay for Speed and Accuracy

Once we identify a high-effort segment, the next step is to develop a solution that delivers superior speed and accuracy for that specific job. This can become a premium tier of the product.

• Standard Tier: The existing solution that gets the job done, but with some effort
• Premium Tier: A new or improved solution, powered by our AI-powered process, that automates the difficult job step, delivering results instantly and without errors
  
  

Customers in the high-effort segment are often more than willing to pay for a premium product because it solves a significant pain point. This strategy allows companies to create new revenue streams by transforming customer friction into a high-value offering.

Actionable Methods We Use to Reduce Customer Effort

Reducing customer effort requires a systematic approach. At our portfolio companies, we implement changes across product, marketing, and sales to create a seamless customer journey.

Streamline Workflows: We use our JTBD software to map every step of the customer's job. We then identify and eliminate redundant steps, confusing interfaces, and process bottlenecks that create friction.

Provide Proactive Guidance: Instead of making customers search for answers, we build proactive support directly into the product. This includes contextual help, automated suggestions, and clear error messaging that guides the user to success.

Enable Self-Service: We develop robust knowledge bases, automated tools, and intuitive dashboards that allow customers to resolve issues and find information on their own, reducing the need for support interactions.

Improve Support Channels: For issues that require human assistance, we ensure the process is effortless. This means no repeat information, direct access to knowledgeable agents, and quick resolutions.

Real-World Application: How We Reduced Effort to Create Value

The principles connecting CES to revenue are best understood through application.

When we used our JTBD method for one of our portfolio companies, a B2B SaaS company that provides data analytics software, our initial CES surveys revealed that customers struggled immensely with integrating data from multiple sources—a critical job step with a very high effort score.

The Problem: This friction was causing churn among new users and preventing broader adoption within existing accounts.

Our Solution: Using our JTBD platform, we worked with the product team to prioritize the development of an automated integration module. This new feature reduced a multi-hour, error-prone task to a few clicks.

The Result: The CES score for data integration dropped significantly. Within six months, the company saw a 20% reduction in early-stage churn and a 15% increase in upsells to the new premium tier that included the module. By focusing on effort, we directly improved retention and revenue for our portfolio company.

Conclusion: Effort is a Direct Input to Revenue

A customer's willingness to pay is not a static number. It is a dynamic variable that can be directly influenced. While product features and branding play a role, the most potent driver for increasing WTP is reducing the effort required for a customer to achieve their goal.

Companies that systematically measure and reduce customer effort build a powerful competitive advantage. They create products that customers refuse to leave, command higher prices, and generate predictable revenue growth. By shifting focus from what a product can do to how easily a customer can get their job done, you align your business with the most fundamental driver of customer value.

Our entire methodology is built on this principle. We use our JTBD platform and AI-powered tools to help our portfolio companies find and fix the points of friction that kill loyalty and suppress revenue. This systematic approach to reducing customer effort is how we create equity value through superior product innovation.

To learn how our JTBD platform helps our portfolio companies connect effort to revenue, contact our team.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the difference between Customer Effort Score (CES) and other metrics like NPS?

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease of a specific interaction or job, while metrics like the Net Promoter Score (NPS) measure overall brand loyalty. According to research, CES is a stronger predictor of future purchase behavior and loyalty because it is tied to tangible experiences rather than general sentiment.

How do you measure Customer Effort Score?

CES is typically measured by asking a simple question after a key interaction, such as "How easy was it to resolve your issue today?" Customers respond on a scale (e.g., from "Very Difficult" to "Very Easy"). At thrv, we use our proprietary JTBD method to measure the speed and accuracy of completing each job step, providing a more granular view of customer effort.

Can improving CES really increase revenue?

Yes. Data shows a direct link between low customer effort and increased customer spending. An effortless experience leads to higher repurchase rates, greater loyalty, and a higher willingness to pay for products and services. Companies that reduce customer effort can see significant improvements in customer lifetime value and overall revenue.

What is a good Customer Effort Score?

A "good" CES depends on the scale used, but the goal is always to have a score indicating low effort (e.g., a high score on a 1-7 scale). More important than the absolute number is the trend over time. A consistently decreasing effort score shows that your initiatives are successfully removing friction from the customer experience.

How does Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) relate to CES?

The Jobs-to-be-Done theory provides the framework for understanding what a customer is trying to accomplish. CES measures how difficult it is for them to accomplish it. We use the JTBD framework to deconstruct the customer's job into discrete steps, then apply CES to identify which steps are causing the most struggle. This allows for precise, high-impact product improvements.

How quickly can CES improvements impact revenue?

CES improvements can show measurable revenue impact within 3-6 months. When customers experience reduced effort in critical job steps, they demonstrate higher retention rates and increased willingness to purchase premium features or services almost immediately.

What role does AI play in measuring and improving CES?

Our AI platform automates the analysis of customer feedback, behavior patterns, and usage data to identify high-effort job steps at scale. AI can process thousands of customer interactions to pinpoint exactly where customers struggle most, enabling faster and more accurate CES measurement than traditional survey methods.

How does reducing customer effort create competitive advantage?

When companies systematically reduce customer effort, they create products that are significantly easier to use than competitors. This ease of use becomes a key differentiator that drives customer preference, reduces churn, and enables premium pricing—creating a sustainable competitive moat that directly contributes to equity value creation.