Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is a customer experience metric that measures satisfaction with a product, service, or interaction. It's commonly used as a direct indicator of how well a company meets or exceeds customer expectations.
Measuring CSAT
CSAT is typically measured through surveys asking customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale:
"How would you rate your satisfaction with [product/service/interaction]?"
Common rating scales include:
- 1-5 scale (5 being most satisfied)
- 1-10 scale (10 being most satisfied)
- 1-7 scale (7 being most satisfied)
Calculating CSAT
The CSAT score is usually expressed as a percentage:
CSAT = (Number of satisfied customers / Total number of responses) × 100%
For a 5-point scale, customers who select 4 or 5 are typically counted as "satisfied."
When to measure CSAT
- Post-purchase: Immediately after a customer makes a purchase
- Post-interaction: After customer service interactions or support tickets
- Onboarding: During or after the customer onboarding process
- Regular intervals: Quarterly or bi-annual check-ins with long-term customers
- Feature releases: After introducing new features or major updates
Benefits and limitations
Benefits
- Quick feedback: Simple for customers to complete
- Specific insights: Can target particular touchpoints or aspects of the customer journey
- Actionable results: Directly identifies areas for improvement
- Trend tracking: Provides comparative data over time
Limitations
- Cultural bias: Different cultures interpret satisfaction scales differently
- Limited context: Doesn't always capture the "why" behind scores
- Response bias: Extremely satisfied or dissatisfied customers are more likely to respond
- Short-term focus: Measures immediate satisfaction rather than long-term loyalty
CSAT is most effective when used alongside other metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Effort Score (CES) to provide a more comprehensive view of the customer experience.
