Creating customer experience: ‘From satisfaction to loyalty - The new metrics that matter’

FOR many years, customer satisfaction was measured through surveys carried out with a close-ended question: “How satisfied were you with your service experience?” It was a “Yes” or “No” response in which many were comfortable with more “Yes” answers as the scores.

- By Dhammika Kalapuge

But in 2025, relying on satisfaction alone is complacency. It only tells you how a customer felt at that moment in time. It is in no way a guarantee that the customer will remain with you, make repeat purchases, or create favourable word of mouth in the future.

It is important to understand that in reality loyalty is not just a feeling; it is a behaviour. A customer who continuously patronises a brand does so because of a memorable experience. A customer may be satisfied with an offer made at that moment in time and yet prefer a competitor brand at the first sign of a better price or convenience. To win in the modern market, the C-Suite must adopt metrics that measure future value, not just past satisfaction.

Hence, it is recommended to use the following two measurement metrics: Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS).

Customer Effort Scores are a tangible measure of customer experience. It is a single metric that measures the amount of effort a customer must use to interact with a company or use its products or services. Using this metric helps companies to understand the health of their customer experience.