What Is CSAT? How to Measure and Improve It?

Have you ever made a purchase and it’s just terrible or outstanding 👌? You more than likely have shared your experiences with others as a review or feedback. Responding to survey questions, providing feedback, rating products, writing a review, etc.

If you have done any of those actions, you have engaged in CSAT Metric ⚖️.CSAT is conducted to measure “Customer satisfaction level” 💯.The level of satisfaction with the products, services, and business overall. “How many stars would you give this product? How satisfied are you from 1-5?” is the type of question used to survey someone to obtain information about customers and their satisfaction.

In this blog, we will cover what is CSAT, why you would use it, the benefits of CSAT, how and when to do it, and the pros and cons of CSAT.

What is CSAT?

CSAT, or Customer Satisfaction Score, measures how satisfied customers are with a specific product, service, or experience. It’s typically calculated by asking customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale (e.g., 1-5 or 1-10), with the score derived from the percentage of high ratings (e.g., 4 or 5).

Customers respond to a survey question after an interaction, like a purchase or support call. The formula is: (Number of satisfied responses ÷ Total responses) × 100. For example, if 80 out of 100 customers rate 4 or 5, the CSAT is 80%.

Why Is CSAT Important?

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is important because it shows how happy customers are with a product, service, or interaction. It helps businesses understand what they’re doing well and what needs to be fixed. When customers are satisfied, they’re more likely to come back and recommend the company to others, which helps build loyalty and reduce customer loss. CSAT also helps improve the overall experience by highlighting problem areas that need attention. With this data, companies can make smarter decisions about improving products, services, and strategies.

It also gives businesses a competitive edge, as better customer service can set them apart. Additionally, CSAT scores can be used to compare performance with competitors and track progress. Since CSAT surveys are quick and easy, they provide fast feedback, allowing companies to respond to issues right away.

How to Measure CSAT?

1. Ask the Right Question

The typical CSAT question is: “How satisfied were you with your experience?”

You can also tweak it based on the context:

• “How satisfied are you with our product?”

• “How would you rate your recent support experience?”

2. Use a Rating Scale

Most commonly, CSAT uses a 1–5 scale:

• 1 – Very Unsatisfied
• 2 – Unsatisfied
• 3 – Neutral
• 4 – Satisfied
• 5 – Very Satisfied

Some also use a 1–10 or emoji-based scale, depending on the audience.

3. Collect Responses

This is usually done through:

• Email surveys
• In-app popups
• Website widgets
• Chatbot follow-ups
• Post-purchase pages

4. Calculate the CSAT Score

You can use the following formula to calculate the CSAT score:

CSAT (%)= (Number of Satisfied Customers / total Responses) × 100

When Should CSAT Be Measured?

1. After a Purchase 🛍️

Send a short survey a day or two after someone buys something. This helps you understand how they felt about the buying process and the product.

👉 For complex products, wait a bit longer so they have time to use it properly.

2. After Talking to Customer Support ☎️

Right after a phone call, email, or chat with your support team, send a survey.

📩 This helps you get honest feedback while the conversation is still fresh in their mind.

3. After an Event 🎤

If you hosted something like a webinar, demo, or training, send a survey soon after it ends.

✅ This helps you know how the experience went for the customer.

4. Regular Check-Ins 📅

For ongoing services, send surveys monthly or quarterly.

📈 This helps you track how customer satisfaction changes over time.

5. Key Moments in the Customer Journey 🚀

Ask for feedback during big moments like after onboarding, after using your product for a while, or before their subscription renews.

Average survey response rates fall around 33% but can vary from 13%–57% depending on how you conduct the survey (in-person and mail surveys have the highest response rates, while telephone surveys and in-app ones have the lowest).

The key is to choose a time that allows the customer to provide thoughtful feedback based on their experience. Avoid surveying too frequently, as this can lead to survey fatigue and less accurate data.

What Is a Good CSAT Score?

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is one of the most widely used metrics to measure customer satisfaction. It provides a snapshot of how satisfied customers are with a company’s products, services, or specific interactions. CSAT is typically measured through surveys where customers rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. The CSAT score is calculated as the percentage of satisfied customers (typically those rating 4 or 5) out of the total survey responses.

So, what is considered a good CSAT score? While benchmarks vary by industry, a score between 75% and 85% is generally regarded as strong. This means that the majority of customers are having a positive experience. However, it is important not to just aim for a “good” score but to understand what contributes to it. Factors such as employee engagement, ease of communication with contact centers, digital experience, and the quality of the company’s products and services play significant roles.

CSAT surveys can be used after a specific interaction, such as a support call or a product purchase, to capture immediate feedback. The simplicity of CSAT makes it a valuable tool, especially when used consistently. With the right survey template, sample size, and timing, CSAT data can provide insights into both strengths and areas for improvement. A good CSAT score is more than just a number; it’s a reflection of customer care, effort invested, and overall customer experience.

How to Improve CSAT?

Increasing your customer satisfaction rating not only results in happy consumers, but it also promotes brand loyalty and more sales. Therefore, increasing customer satisfaction is a crucial endeavor for all contact centers. The following five tactics will help you raise your CSAT rating and increase client retention:

• Understand the Customer Journey: Start by identifying pain points through targeted, easy-to-complete CSAT and feedback surveys after key customer interactions.

• Enhance Employee Experience: Invest in agent training, empowerment, and alignment with company values—happy employees create better customer experiences.

• Minimize Customer Effort: Analyze CES data to streamline processes and reduce friction during customer interactions, making it easier to resolve issues or complete tasks.

• Act on Feedback: Use survey insights to identify recurring issues (e.g., long wait times) and implement solutions like optimized staffing or self-service options.

• Leverage Tech & Personalization: Improve digital platforms for usability and personalize interactions using customer data to boost satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

CSAT vs Other Customer Metrics

Advantages of Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Identifies Improvement Areas

Customer satisfaction measurements like CSAT can help single out shortcomings in products, services, or support. With an examination of the survey data, companies can better expose issues that keep coming up in business, like slow response times and poor experience using their products. Gaps in services can be resolved, which can help to improve CSAT scores, but also improve service as well. Regular surveying as part of regular monitoring proposes to keep companies from being reactive in customer experience and ultimately develop a competitive strategy in customer experience.

Boosts Customer Retention

Happy customers will often return, and happy customers will often continue doing business with you. Customer satisfaction gives you a measurement of customer satisfaction so that you can see at-risk customers before they leave. When you resolve customers’ problems based on their feedback, it can build trust and loyalty. Typically, it is cheaper to retain a customer than to get a new customer. Therefore, tracking satisfaction is an essential part of any strategy that advances customer retention .

Encourages Word-of-Mouth Referrals

Happy customers effectively become your brand advocates. If your business receives high satisfaction scores, it is likely that many customers leave reviews. Customer satisfaction has also been linked to personal recommendations. Knowing your customer satisfaction level and then working to improve it is a great way to increase the chances of your customers marketing your business to their friends, family or coworkers. Either way, organic marketing is great for building your business reputation and customer base because it is effective and inexpensive.

Informs Product and Service Development

Customer feedback from satisfaction surveys helps to provide insight on what attributes or enhancements customers really want. This allows businesses to prioritize developments on real need instead of guesswork. Whether it’s simply updating a software feature or improving a returns process, aligning offerings with customer expectations helps ensure a better experience and a greater competitive benefit.

Improves Employee Engagement

Some employees will always feel more motivated when they can see where their work has enhanced the experience of the customer. Sharing CSAT data with the team helps your employees understand their part in creating customer satisfaction, recognize where they can personally improve, and creates a feedback loop that promotes accountability and pride in their jobs. When your employees are engaged, customers receive better service and, thus, a higher satisfaction rating. Everyone wins!

Supports Data-Driven Decision Making

Measuring customer satisfaction equips leadership teams with hard data to guide strategic decisions. Whether it’s investing in new technology, changing vendors, or hiring more support staff, decisions backed by customer insights are more likely to yield positive outcomes. This data-driven approach reduces guesswork and ensures that business resources are aligned with actual customer needs.

Conclusion

In order to provide excellent service, you need to reach beyond support tickets. You need to enhance the customer experience at every point throughout the entire customer journey. If you leverage CSAT, NPS, and other customer experience metrics and research, your objectives will be simplified to provide the most personalized, efficient, and satisfying experiences possible.

Whether you focus on a single interaction in a call center, an optimized digital platform, or creating the ability for digital self-service, the goal will always be to develop even deeper engagement with your customer for greater retention.

Ultimately, satisfied and engaged customers will be the ones to steer away from competitors when it is easy to do so! In the end, companies that listen to their customers and incorporate satisfaction into their business practices, rather than customers that are doing service to customer satisfaction, will rise to the top!

FAQs

What does CSAT stand for, and why is it important?

CSAT stands for Customer Satisfaction Score. It measures how satisfied customers are with a product, service, or interaction. High CSAT correlates with customer loyalty, retention, and positive word-of-mouth, helping businesses identify strengths and areas for improvement.

How is the CSAT score calculated?

CSAT is calculated using the formula:

(Number of Satisfied Customers ÷ Total Survey Responses) × 100

Typically, responses with a rating of 4 or 5 (on a 1–5 scale) are considered “satisfied.” This gives a percentage that reflects overall customer satisfaction for that specific interaction or touchpoint.

When should you send a CSAT survey?

CSAT surveys are best sent immediately after a key customer interaction.

What’s a good CSAT score to aim for?

A good CSAT score generally falls between 75% and 85%, though it varies by industry. Anything above 85% typically indicates excellent customer satisfaction. However, the real value lies in analyzing trends over time and identifying what drives high or low scores.

How can businesses improve their CSAT scores?

Businesses should listen to feedback and fix recurring issues to improve their CSAT score.