CSAT
Also: CSAT, Customer Satisfaction Score, Customer Satisfaction, Satisfaction Score, Score de satisfaction client
Customer Satisfaction Score, a direct measure of satisfaction captured right after a specific interaction or experience, usually on a short rating scale.
What CSAT is
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) is a metric that measures how satisfied a customer is with a specific interaction, product, or experience. It is typically collected by asking a single question soon after the event, for example: *How satisfied were you with your support call today?*
Respondents answer on a short scale, commonly 1 to 5 (from *very dissatisfied* to *very satisfied*). CSAT is usually reported as the percentage of positive responses:
- CSAT % = (satisfied responses / total responses) x 100
- "Satisfied" typically means the top one or two boxes (for example, ratings of 4 and 5 on a 5-point scale).
Unlike NPS, which asks about likelihood to recommend a brand, CSAT is transactional and moment-specific. It tells you how a single touchpoint performed, not overall loyalty.
Why it matters
- Direct and immediate: it captures feeling while the experience is fresh, so it is a strong early signal of friction.
- Granular: you can attach it to any touchpoint (checkout, onboarding, a support ticket, a delivery) and pinpoint exactly where satisfaction drops.
- Actionable: low scores on a specific step tell teams where to fix things.
- Easy to collect: one question means high response rates and low respondent burden.
Its main limitations: it measures a moment, not the whole relationship, and it can suffer from response bias (very happy or very angry people answer more often).
How it is used in practice
- Trigger: send the survey right after the interaction (post-chat, post-purchase, post-delivery).
- Segment: break CSAT down by channel, agent, product, or region.
- Trend: track it over time to see if a change (new process, new pricing) helped or hurt.
- Close the loop: route low scores to a follow-up so issues get resolved.
Worked Example
A support team surveys 200 customers after resolved tickets. Ratings:
- 5 (very satisfied): 90
- 4 (satisfied): 70
- 3 (neutral): 20
- 2 (dissatisfied): 12
- 1 (very dissatisfied): 8
Using the top two boxes as "satisfied":
- Satisfied = 90 + 70 = 160
- CSAT = 160 / 200 = 80%
If last quarter was 74%, the 6-point rise suggests recent changes are working. Drilling in, tickets handled by chat may score 88% while phone scores 71%, showing exactly where to focus coaching.
For an AI-driven support flow, CSAT after an LLM assistant handles a query is a key quality gauge, often compared against human handoff to decide when escalation is needed.