CSAT (customer satisfaction score)
Quick definition
CSAT (customer satisfaction score) is a metric of how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction, product or service. It usually comes from a one-question survey answered on a 1-to-5 scale.
On this page
How CSAT is calculated
The usual question is “How satisfied were you with this conversation?” with answers from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). CSAT is then the percentage of respondents who chose 4 or 5: satisfied responses ÷ total responses × 100. Some teams use a simpler two-option scale — thumbs up or down — which gets more answers but less nuance.
ISO 10004 gives general guidelines for monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction, including the importance of defining the purpose of the measure, sampling, and acting on results.
CSAT vs NPS vs CES
CSAT measures satisfaction with one interaction, right after it. Net Promoter Score (NPS) asks how likely someone is to recommend the company, which reflects the whole relationship and moves slowly. Customer Effort Score (CES) asks how easy it was to get the issue handled, which is often the best predictor of loyalty in support.
For customer service, CSAT and CES are the most actionable because they are tied to a specific conversation you can read and learn from.
Pitfalls
Response rates are low, and the customers who answer are often the very happy and the very unhappy. A survey sent too late measures memory rather than the experience. And a CSAT score alone says nothing about why: always read the conversations behind the low scores.
With AI assistants, separate satisfaction with AI-handled conversations from satisfaction with those handled by people, and pay particular attention to conversations where the customer asked for a human.
Satisfaction in AI SmartTalk
AI SmartTalk collects satisfaction at the level of each answer: customers can give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to the assistant's replies. The dashboard shows the resulting satisfaction rate and its daily trend, and lists the thumbs-down still to review so the team can correct the knowledge base or instructions. A post-conversation CSAT survey is not built in; businesses that run one usually do so in their helpdesk or email tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good CSAT score?
It varies by industry and by how the question is asked. Compare your score with your own history and between channels or teams rather than with published averages built on different methods.
When should a CSAT survey be sent?
As soon as possible after the interaction ends, ideally in the same channel — at the end of the chat or within the hour by email — while the experience is fresh.
Is a thumbs-up/down rating the same as CSAT?
It is a simplified satisfaction measure. It is quicker to answer and works well for rating individual answers, but it gives less nuance than a 1-to-5 scale.