The factors that influence customer experience the most are what we call drivers: the specific aspects of your service that correlate most strongly with overall customer satisfaction. Think of waiting times, communication, expertise, or the effort a customer has to put in to get something done. Which drivers carry the most weight for your organisation depends on your industry, customer segment, and touchpoint. In this article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about drivers and customer experience, so you can move from measuring to genuinely improving.
Which factors determine customer experience the most?
The factors that determine customer experience the most are the aspects of your service that customers themselves experience as decisive for their overall verdict. These are not always the factors you as an organisation consider most important. Research consistently shows that reliability, communication, and the effort a customer has to make themselves are among the strongest predictors of satisfaction.
In practice, it comes down to questions like: was my expectation met? Was it easy to get help? Did I feel taken seriously? Those experiences carry more weight than product specifications or price. That is why the Customer Effort Score (CES) is so insightful: the less effort a customer has to make, the greater the likelihood of loyalty.
Other common drivers include:
- Speed and accessibility of the service
- Expertise and friendliness of staff
- Clarity of communication and information
- Keeping agreements and promises
- Ease of customer contact (digital and in person)
But bear in mind: these are general patterns. Which drivers carry the most weight for your customers is something you can only discover through targeted research.
Discover what customers truly care about and give every team clear priorities to improve the customer experience in a focused way.
Discover CX/KTO →How do you discover which factors matter most to your customers?
You discover which factors matter most to your customers by carrying out a driver analysis: a method in which you measure how strongly each aspect of the service correlates with overall customer satisfaction. The aspects with the highest correlation are the drivers where improvement has the greatest impact.
A driver analysis does not have to be complex. With a well-designed questionnaire and the right analytical logic, you can map out which aspects make the decisive difference without heavy statistics. That does require a few preconditions:
- Ask the right questions. Do not just ask customers to give a score, but also ask for their assessment of specific aspects of the service.
- Collect sufficient responses. The more responses per segment or touchpoint, the more reliable the outcomes.
- Analyse correlation, not just averages. An aspect with a low average score does not have to be a priority if it has little influence on the overall verdict.
- Visualise the outcomes. A clear dashboard or Priority Matrix makes it immediately apparent where action pays off most.
A customer satisfaction survey set up in this way gives you not just a score, but also a clear picture of the underlying causes.
Why do drivers differ by customer segment or touchpoint?
Drivers differ by customer segment and touchpoint because different customers in different situations have different expectations and priorities. What a business customer finds decisive after a complex installation differs fundamentally from what a consumer weighs most heavily after an online purchase.
Consider the difference between a transactional and a relational touchpoint. After a repair visit, the effort a customer had to make plays a major role: was it easy to book an appointment, was the job resolved in one go? At an annual relationship touchpoint, it is more about trust, proactivity, and the feeling that you as a customer are truly seen.
Segment differences exist too. Loyal customers who have been with you for years often place greater weight on communication and personal contact. New customers pay more attention to the first impression and the ease of onboarding. If you lump these segments together in your analysis, you miss the nuance that makes exactly the difference in your improvement approach.
That is why it makes sense to run driver analyses per customer journey, per segment, or per touchpoint. That way you see not only what is happening on average, but also where specific groups really drop off or become genuinely enthusiastic.
What is the difference between a driver analysis and a customer satisfaction survey?
A customer satisfaction survey measures how satisfied customers are. A driver analysis explains why they are satisfied or dissatisfied, and which aspects of the service influence that satisfaction most strongly. The two methods complement each other: without a driver analysis, you know something is going on, but not where to start improving.
A customer satisfaction survey typically produces a score, such as an NPS (Net Promoter Score) or a CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score). Those scores are valuable as a signal and as a benchmark. But a score of 7.2 does not tell you whether you should invest in faster response times, better communication, or a friendlier member of staff.
The driver analysis fills that gap. By measuring the correlation between sub-scores and the overall verdict, you can see which aspects have the most influence. That makes the step from measuring to improving concrete and focused, rather than a feeling of "we just need to do everything better".
The most effective approach combines both: a solid customer satisfaction survey with a built-in driver analysis, so that every measurement is directly translatable into priorities.
How do you translate identified drivers into concrete improvement actions?
You translate identified drivers into concrete improvement actions by combining them with two dimensions: the impact on customer satisfaction and the current score on that aspect. Drivers with a high impact and a low score are the priorities. Drivers with a high impact and an already high score are your strengths to protect.
This is exactly what a Priority Matrix makes clear. In a single overview, you can see which aspects of your service deserve the most attention. That prevents teams from investing in improvements that have little effect on the customer experience.
But prioritising is only half of it. The other half is follow-up. That means feedback does not get stuck in a report or dashboard, but reaches the people who can actually act on it. In practice, this works best through a closed-loop approach: dissatisfied customers are actively followed up, employees receive feedback on their own touchpoints, and improvements are monitored structurally.
A concrete example makes this clear. Suppose your driver analysis reveals that "clarity of the quote" is a strong driver but scores low. The action is then obvious: revise the quotation process, test the new approach, and then measure whether the score improves. That is how you close the loop between measuring and improving.
How CYS Group helps you discover your drivers
CYS Group helps organisations not only to measure what customers think, but also to understand why — and what to do about it. We do this with our own driver analysis and the accompanying driver model, built into the platform cx.management.
In practice, that means:
- A questionnaire based on the 3-question methodology, focused on the touchpoints that are most decisive for your customers
- Automatic driver analysis that shows, without heavy statistics, which factors have the greatest impact on the overall verdict
- A Priority Matrix that immediately makes clear where improvement pays off most
- Closed-loop follow-up, so that dissatisfied customers are called back and feedback reaches the right employees
- Dashboards that steer teams rather than reports that end up in a drawer
Want to know which factors truly determine the customer experience in your organisation? Get in touch and we will be happy to think along with you about the right approach.
Make every experience count.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I run a driver analysis to stay relevant?
A driver analysis is not a one-off exercise. Customer needs, market conditions, and your own service offering change constantly, which means drivers can shift over time. It is advisable to evaluate your driver model at least annually, and to run a fresh analysis immediately whenever there are major changes to your service or customer segments. That way you keep steering on what matters to your customers right now, rather than on insights from two years ago.
How many respondents do I need for a reliable driver analysis?
As a rule of thumb, you need at least 30 to 50 completed questionnaires per segment or touchpoint to draw reliable conclusions, but the more responses you have, the stronger the statistical foundation. With smaller customer bases, you can extend the measurement period or merge segments to collect sufficient data. It is also important to actively aim for a representative sample: if only satisfied or only dissatisfied customers respond, that will skew the outcomes of your driver analysis.
What are common mistakes when setting up a driver analysis?
One of the most frequent mistakes is asking too many or too vague questions, causing customers to drop out or give superficial answers. Another pitfall is focusing on average scores per aspect rather than on their correlation with the overall verdict — an aspect can score low without having a major influence on overall satisfaction. Finally, we often see organisations that measure but fail to link the results to concrete actions or responsible owners, leaving insights sitting in a report without anything changing.
Can I also use a driver analysis for internal customer satisfaction or employee experience?
Yes, the principles of a driver analysis translate excellently to internal customer satisfaction and employee experience. Employees too have specific factors — such as autonomy, recognition, communication, or development opportunities — that correlate most strongly with their overall satisfaction and engagement. By applying a driver analysis to your employee survey, you discover exactly where HR investments deliver the greatest return, rather than working from a generic improvement plan.
How do I involve employees in acting on driver analysis outcomes?
The key is not to confront employees with abstract figures, but with concrete, recognisable feedback that relates directly to their own touchpoints. Share driver outcomes at team level and make employees co-owners of improvement actions by involving them in finding solutions. A closed-loop approach helps enormously here: when employees see that their follow-up with a dissatisfied customer actually leads to a better experience, intrinsic motivation to act on customer feedback grows.
What is the difference between a driver and a KPI in customer experience?
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable outcome that shows how well you are performing, such as an NPS score or an average satisfaction rating. A driver is an underlying factor that influences that outcome, such as the speed of your response time or the clarity of your communication. KPIs tell you what is happening; drivers explain why and give you concrete handles to improve in a focused way. The combination of both makes customer experience truly manageable.
Is a driver analysis also worthwhile for small organisations with a limited customer base?
Absolutely. Especially for smaller organisations, a driver analysis can be highly valuable, because every customer relationship carries more weight and targeted improvements are immediately noticeable. With a compact but well-designed questionnaire and a longer measurement period, you can gather reliable insights even with a smaller customer base. Moreover, a driver analysis helps small organisations to deploy scarce time and resources in a focused way on the improvements that truly make the difference for customer loyalty.
