CSAT is a very popular metric used by small and big brands because of its simplicity and ease of implementation. It can help businesses gauge customer loyalty and retention levels. From the customers’ perspective, the CSAT survey is also very straightforward and easy to answer, requiring very less time.
If you want to include CSAT in your CX program, this article is for you.
What is CSAT?
Customer Satisfaction Score, abbreviated as CSAT score, is a KPI used by businesses to measure how satisfied customers are with their products and service. Brands can improve their offerings and fine-tune the customer journey by understanding whether customers are happy with the engagement.
CSAT is a short and simple survey that gives a good idea of how customers perceive your brand and its customer service. You can use it at any stage in the customer journey and measure micro or macro-level satisfaction. Customers are also more inclined to answer it because it can be done quickly, giving you fresh and more accurate responses and a high response rate for a quality sample.
The CSAT survey
The CSAT survey generally consists of one question, which goes as,
How satisfied are you with the recent interaction or purchase?
or
How would you rate your overall satisfaction with our service/product?
Brands can rephrase the above question to suit their requirements for measuring CSAT. Respondents can rate their satisfaction on a numerical scale where each number represents a satisfaction level. The most popular is the five-point scale where,
- 1- Very unsatisfied
- 2- Unsatisfied
- 3- Neutral
- 4- Satisfied
- 5-Very satisfied
These responses can also be represented in a row of emojis with corresponding values assigned to each. The quantitative nature of the CSAT score makes it easy to calculate. CSAT surveys can be sent out via email, text message, social media DMs, live chat, in-store terminals, and many other channels.
How to calculate CSAT?
Once you have gathered the responses, it’s time to calculate the CSAT score.
First, you add the number of satisfied and very satisfied customers, meaning responses with a score of 4 and 5. Then, divide it by the total number of responses received and multiply it by 100 to derive it as a percentage. So,
CSAT = (Total number of satisfied responses/ Total number of responses) x 100
While CSAT scores differ from industry to industry, a score above 75% is generally considered good. Your CSAT campaign should also have a high response rate for an accurate measure.
CSAT vs EVI®
EVI®, the metric designed to measure emotional experience, is similar to CSAT in the sense that it’s also concise and simple to answer. The EVI® survey asks customers how they feel regarding the interaction they just experienced, be it customer service, product purchase, or inquiry. Customers respond by selecting the emotion that best describes how they feel at that point in time. Emojis are presented in a circular form with indifference in the middle.
While CSAT captures only one aspect of customer experience, EVI® is a more holistic approach to understanding customers. By tapping into emotions, brands get an insight into a multitude of factors and not just customer satisfaction. Also, CSAT is not a powerful indicator of customer loyalty or retention, and often leads to skewed interpretations if it isn’t backed by additional information. Also, one major drawback of CSAT is that unhappy customers may not take the time to respond to the survey. It can lead to inaccurate decision-making. On the contrary, EVI® doesn’t question how happy you are and instead asks how you feel, which is a gentle yet impactful nudge to answer it.
Emotions are a powerful determinant of customer behavior and can significantly influence the way they shop with a brand. By measuring EVI® and improving customer experience, brands can elevate how customers feel and evoke positive emotions throughout the customer journey. Overall, it’s highly effective if CSAT and EVI® are used together.
