What is Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)?
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) measures how satisfied customers are, typically asked as "How satisfied are you with [interaction]?" on a 1-5 or 1-7 scale. CSAT % is the percentage of respondents giving 4-5 (or 6-7 depending on scale). Unlike NPS, CSAT can be asked about a specific interaction (a support call, a website visit, a product) rather than overall relationship. Industries with strong CSAT measurement: technical support (per-call CSAT after each ticket), retail (transactional surveys after purchase), hospitality (post-stay surveys). CSAT typically correlates with retention and word-of-mouth but the correlation varies by category. Best practice: combine CSAT with operational metrics (resolution rate, response time) for diagnostic insight.
How Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) actually works
The framework breaks down into the following moving parts. Knowing what each piece is — and what it is not — is what separates a B-grade answer from an A-grade answer in a written assignment.
- Ask "How satisfied are you?" on 1-5 or 1-7 scale
- CSAT % = respondents rating 4-5 (or 6-7) / total respondents
- Use after specific transactions
- Combine with operational metrics
- Track over time
A worked example: Zappos
Zappos famously measures CSAT after every customer-service interaction. The CSAT score (consistently 95%+) is treated as the operational truth about the support team. Agents are evaluated on CSAT alongside other metrics; low CSAT triggers coaching. The discipline is part of why Zappos became famous for customer service — a feedback loop tightly tied to operational decisions. The case demonstrates that CSAT works best when it is collected at high frequency, tied to operational decisions, and not gamed (e.g., by selecting which interactions to survey).
Don't lose marks for these
- Surveying only happy customers (selection bias)
- Treating CSAT as standalone (needs operational triangulation)
- Inconsistent scales across surveys
How to use this on the exam
Score-maximizing moves
- Distinguish from NPS (transactional vs relational)
- Show calculation
- Pair with operational metrics
When to use Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) (and when not to)
Use Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) when your assignment asks you to analyze, structure, or recommend — and when you have at least two data points to populate every cell of the framework. Skip it when the question is asking for a numerical answer or a single recommendation, since Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a structuring tool, not a calculator.