CSAT
Customer Satisfaction Score—a transactional survey metric measuring a customer's immediate satisfaction with a specific interaction, product, or service on a defined rating scale.
Full Definition
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures how satisfied a customer is with a specific interaction, product, or service through a direct rating question: "How satisfied are you with [the interaction/product/service]?" typically rated on a 5-point scale (Very Unsatisfied to Very Satisfied) or a 10-point scale. CSAT is calculated as the percentage of respondents rating satisfaction above a defined threshold (typically 4-5 on a 5-point scale, or 8-10 on a 10-point scale). Unlike NPS—which measures loyalty and likelihood to recommend—CSAT measures immediate, transactional satisfaction with a specific touchpoint, making it highly actionable for operational improvement of specific customer interactions. CSAT's primary advantage over NPS is specificity and immediacy. CSAT surveys delivered immediately after a specific interaction (a support call, a delivery, an installation, a billing inquiry) capture satisfaction with that interaction in context, while the experience is fresh and attribution to specific operational factors is clear. This specificity enables operational root cause analysis: a sudden drop in post-support CSAT can be traced to a specific agent, process change, or product issue. In contrast, NPS measures overall relationship sentiment that is an aggregate of many experiences and changes more slowly, making it harder to attribute to specific operational causes. The CSAT-NPS combination provides a more complete customer experience measurement system than either metric alone. CSAT identifies specific interaction-level failures that need immediate operational response; NPS tracks whether the cumulative impact of all interactions is building or eroding customer loyalty. Leading customer experience organizations use both: CSAT for operational performance management (triggering immediate response to low-rated interactions) and NPS for strategic relationship health tracking (identifying whether customer retention risk is building before it manifests as churn).
FAQs
How quickly should CSAT surveys be sent after an interaction?
CSAT surveys are most effective when sent within 24 hours of the interaction—response rates decline significantly after 48-72 hours, and respondents' ability to attribute their satisfaction to specific aspects of the interaction diminishes quickly. For digital interactions (support tickets, chat), in-app survey triggers immediately at interaction closure achieve the highest response rates and most accurate feedback. For phone support, post-call IVR surveys achieve high response rates; email surveys sent the same day achieve moderate rates.
What CSAT score is considered good for a B2B SaaS company?
B2B SaaS companies targeting 80%+ satisfaction rates (the percentage of respondents rating 4-5 on a 5-point scale) is considered good performance. Elite customer success organizations achieve 90%+. The critical number to monitor alongside absolute CSAT score is satisfaction at renewal—CSAT in the 60-days leading up to renewal is a leading indicator of churn risk, with sub-80% satisfaction correlating with significantly higher churn probability and should trigger executive-level customer engagement.
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