If customers are the lifeblood of a business, their satisfaction is what will keep it running. It is important that brands keep track of customer satisfaction consistently to identify what they do well and focus on what they could do better. CSAT is one of the popular metrics used for this purpose.
But does it cover everything you need to keep your customers happy? Well, let’s get started from the beginning.
What is CSAT?
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is a CX metric used to measure the degree of customer satisfaction related to a product or interaction. It is a popular metric among small and big brands, and even you, as a customer, might have answered many CSAT surveys!
CSAT assesses the quality of service rendered by a brand to its clientele. It is a simple survey that takes a matter of a few seconds to answer and is also easy to calculate. CSAT can be applied to any stage in the customer journey. It can be when the customer browses the product on the website, makes a purchase, or after resolving an issue related to an order.
How CSAT is calculated?
The CSAT survey contains the question,
“How satisfied are you with the recent interaction or purchase?”
The respondents can rate their answers on a numerical scale of 1-5, where,
- Very unsatisfied
- Unsatisfied
- Neutral
- Satisfied
- Very satisfied
Since the response is a matter of a single tap or insertion of a number, you can use website pop-up surveys, email surveys, feedback forms, SMS, and many other ways to send the survey. Identify the touchpoints that need to be evaluated for quality and utilize the best channels to reach out to customers.
Once the responses are gathered, you select ones with a rating of 4 or 5, denoting a high level of satisfaction. Then, you calculate the number of satisfied customers as a percentage of the total number of responses received.
CSAT = (Total number of satisfied responses/ Total number of responses) x 100
When should you use CSAT?
Measuring customer satisfaction is essential for brands to know if their CXM program is successful. It is also an implication of customer retention levels, churn rates, loyalty, and advocacy because all of these stem from satisfaction, while many other factors play a role along with it.
We recommend that you use CSAT to assess the quality of customer experience and gauge satisfaction on a surface level. A low CSAT score is a clear warning sign for brands, while a high score implies an optimistic situation.
It is also important to time your survey right. It will give you the most accurate answers. For example, if you want to identify if customers are satisfied with onboarding, the CSAT survey should be sent immediately. However, to gauge if customers find your product useful, it needs to be delayed until they have used it to some extent.
Where does CSAT fall short?
While CSAT is a good metric, it is limited in its offering. It tells you whether customers are happy or unhappy but doesn’t offer much depth to help brands identify the root causes. For example, if the majority of CSAT responses show that customers were unhappy with the purchase, brands need to realize what went wrong. Is it the product, the salespeople, or the purchasing experience itself? You need more contextual data to recognize the issue.
CSAT surveys should ideally be used as a complement to other CX KPIs like EVI®, NPS, and CES. They provide detailed insights about the score achieved. It helps you gain a well-rounded understanding of customer feedback and optimize customer experience accordingly. Having open-ended questions is also a helpful way to obtain more information about the feedback.
