What is Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and How Can You Boost It?

A customer satisfaction score (CSAT) is one of the four most important metrics you must track as it gives you an idea of how your customers feel about your brand. It measures their level of satisfaction with the experience they had while using your product or service, and it's a great way to determine how well your company is performing.

In this article, we'll go over what CSAT is and how you can boost it through personalization, automation and other strategies.

What is Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)?

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important metrics for measuring the health of your business. You need to know what customers think so you can make changes to improve their experience.

But how do you measure customer satisfaction? How do you know if your customers are happy or not?

One way is through a customer satisfaction score (CSAT), which refers to the percentage of customers satisfied with your product or service. It's a simple metric, but it's also powerful because it measures how well you deliver value to your customers.

Businesses that receive high CSAT scores are often rewarded with repeat business, referrals, and loyalty from their customers.

However, a low CSAT score is a thorn for every business that experiences it, as it means that customers aren't satisfied with the company and are likely to churn. In fact, a low CSAT score is one of the leading causes of customer churn.

It’s worth noting that apart from CSAT, there are other metrics to measure customer loyalty, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Effort Score (CES). While all of these metrics matter, it’s important to understand when to use the CSAT versus when to use the others.

How to measure your customer satisfaction score

You can use various tools or surveys to get feedback from your customers and measure their satisfaction levels. However, CSAT is usually measured with any variation of the following question at the end of the customer survey:

"How would you rate your satisfaction with your latest interaction with our business?"

To answer this question, the customer will need to use a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 means "very satisfied" and 1 means "very unsatisfied."

It's important to note that there are different ways of calculating CSAT. The most common way is to divide the number of satisfied customers (those who rated their satisfaction level with a 4 or a 5) by the total number of survey responses and multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage. 

In other words, a customer satisfaction score is often calculated as the percentage of respondents who rate the brand highly (a score of 4 or 5, 8 to 10, or any other equivalent).

What is a good customer satisfaction score?

While the average CSAT across all industries is around 25%, it’s safe to say that a CSAT of 50% and above is an indication of high customer satisfaction and excellent performance.

However, a good customer satisfaction score will vary depending on the industry. To find out what a good CSAT is for your industry, you might want to research the CSAT your competitors receive and aim higher.

How to boost your customer satisfaction score?

So now that you know what a CSAT is and why it’s essential for your business, you’re probably wondering how to boost it. Here are 5 ways to get started:

1. Offer a variety of support channels

Customers expect different ways of contacting you when they have an issue: email, social media, live chat and phone support are just a few examples. So make sure you're available on all channels so that customers can reach you quickly no matter what device they're using or where they are in the world.

The most effective way to connect with your customers through multiple customer service channels is by using a unified communications solution.

2. Continuously train your employees

Another excellent way to boost your CSAT is to train your employees on what good customer service entails. In fact, improving customer service is one of the most effective customer retention strategies to use.

Ensure that your employees understand the importance of providing good customer service so they can do it consistently throughout their day-to-day activities. Encourage them to ask for feedback from every customer they come across during their workday so that they know how well they're doing at providing good customer service.

3. Leverage AI

There are many different types of AI out there, but one type, in particular, has proven to be super effective for improving CSAT: conversational AI.

Conversational AI uses natural language processing technology and artificial intelligence to create chatbots that can communicate with customers through text messages or phone calls.

These chatbots can be used for everything from customer service inquiries to sales support and fraud prevention.

Another type of AI-based software is creative automation, which helps marketers create highly personalized creative that ‘speaks’ to different types of customers. What’s more, it automates the tedious, manual design processes. That’s one of the best parts of using AI — it doesn't require much training or maintenance from humans — meaning companies can reduce costs while increasing efficiency and customer satisfaction at the same time.

4. Improve customer journey

For any business, understanding what your customers want is crucial. But it’s also important to know what customers expect their experience with your brand to be like and how they interact with you before they purchase something from your store or place an order online.

Customer journey mapping allows you to identify pain points and areas where improvement can be made so that customers have a seamless experience throughout their interaction with your brand. Effective and informative product tours can help your current and prospective customers understand how your products or services can address their needs, at the same time reducing support requests.

Moreover, improving your customer experience can help you engage your audience and create customer loyalty, resulting in higher customer retention.

5. Collect customer feedback and act on it

The easiest way to improve your CSAT score is to listen to what customers say about you. You can do this by asking them directly via customer feedback surveys or by monitoring social media channels.

You can also use a virtual call center, which is quickly becoming a cost-effective customer support solution. If you want to learn more about your customers' opinions, you must first learn how to do it correctly.

Using a customer insights tool powered by AI can help you understand what makes users happy or unhappy by analyzing their feedback in forums, social media channels and other communication channels.

You can also use a customer success software platform, such as Gainsight or ClientSuccess, to keep track of the different customer satisfaction metrics, such as CSAT, NPS and CET.

Once you collect your customers' feedback, make sure you take action on it as soon as possible — the more responsive you are, the faster you can improve what's not working and boost your CSAT as a result.

Final thoughts

Your customer satisfaction score is one of the most crucial parameters for assessing how well your business is doing.

Remember that you can influence your customer's satisfaction and loyalty. By implementing the tips mentioned in this article, you'll be able to improve their experience and boost their satisfaction levels, which will ultimately positively impact your bottom line.