Know How to Calculate CSAT Score Effectively?

Customer Satisfaction Score

How to Calculate CSAT Score for Customer Satisfaction?

Jun 15, 2023

11 mins read

Manisha Khandelwal

Did you know that a whopping 75% of customers consider customer service as a key factor in their purchase decisions? 

It’s no wonder companies like Link Net, a telecommunication giant, have made it a top priority to boost their customer satisfaction scores. So, you might be wondering, “What exactly is a CSAT score, and how can it help my business?”

Well, my friend, CSAT stands for Customer Satisfaction Score, and it’s a simple yet powerful metric that allows you to measure how satisfied your customers are with your products or services. 

But how to calculate CSAT score? It’s easier than you might think.

But first let’s first understand, why do you need to do it?

Why Should You Calculate Your CSAT Score?

Calculating CSAT scores is really important for your business because it

  • Measure customer satisfaction to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts and identify areas that require improvement.
  • Highlight specific areas of your business that need immediate action. 
  • Capture customer sentiment consistently across different touchpoints.
  • Offers a common language to evaluate satisfaction levels and uncover patterns across various customer journeys.
  • Aligns teams and departments to give a clear benchmark to assess performance and prioritize improvement efforts. 
  • Maintain transparency with customers by sharing CSAT scores – showing a commitment to their satisfaction, and instilling trust in your brand.
  • Track changes over time by monitoring the effectiveness of their initiatives, measuring the impact of improvements, and understanding the evolving customer needs and expectations.
  • Enhance customer loyalty and retention by making customers satisfied and encouraging them to become repeat customers and brand advocates.

Note: Low CSAT scores mean highly unsatisfied customers and vice versa. 

Now that you know why you should calculate CSAT scores, let’s look at how to calculate it. 

How to Calculate CSAT Score Survey?

Here’s the formula for calculating the CSAT score: 

An image showing how to calculate CSAT score

First, identify the satisfied scores on your CSAT scale (1-5 or 1-7). 

  • If you are using a 1-7 point scale, your happy scores are 6 and 7.
  • If you are using a 1-5 point scale, your happy scores are 4 and 5. 
  • If using a rating scale having 3 emoticons, then the smiley emoticon is your happy score.

[Also, make sure that your customers understand this as well]

Here’s an example of calculating the CSAT Score.

Suppose, you send a CSAT survey on a 5-point scale to your 10 customers who used the gift voucher at your store, to know their experience. 

Customers 1-2  3 4-5
Amanda 3
Lily 5
Glordiya 5
John 4
Mark 4
Ross 2
Jenny 4
Kate 5
James 3
Henry  4
Total score of all customers = 39

Now, to calculate the CSAT score:

  • Add all the customer’s scores: 2+3+3+4+5+5+4+4+5+4 = 39
  • Divide the total sum by the maximum number of respondents to get the average score: 39/100= 0.39
  • Multiply the average score by 100 to convert it into a percentage: 0.39 x 100 = 39%

Your CSAT Score is 39% i.e., the average satisfaction level of the respondents.

If you’re using a rating scale with 3 emoticons, then use the same CSAT score formula. 

For example, if 50 customers filled out the survey and only 32 customers clicked on the happy face then your total CSAT score would be:

32/50 x 100= 64%

Your CSAT score is 64%.

Now that you’ve calculated your CSAT Score, it’s time to understand if you have a good CSAT score or not.

What is a Good CSAT Score?

A score of 35 can be a good score for the hospital industry but not a good score for the retail industry. 

That’s why, you need to research well to understand your industry’s score and market before considering your score as a good CSAT score

To give you a gist, a good CSAT score indicates a high level of customer satisfaction. Although, the meaning of a ‘good’ score varies across industries and businesses, generally, a CSAT score 

  • Above 80% is considered awesome denoting your business has the highest number of satisfied customers.
  • 60- 80% is considered good as this range suggests that your business has more satisfied customers. 
  • 40-60% is considered average with some space for improvement. 
  • 0-40% is not considered a good score because it shows that your business has more unsatisfied customers than satisfied. 

Remember, research and analyze your industry as customer expectations may differ. So it’s crucial to interpret CSAT scores alongside qualitative feedback and prioritize continuous improvement to meet their evolving needs.

So far so good? 

Let’s delve into how to design the CSAT surveys. 

How to Design the CSAT Survey?

You can design a lucrative CSAT survey in 3 steps using an online survey tool, SurveySensum. With SurveySensum, you can personalize surveys with themes and in-built templates as per your brand requirements.

STEP 1: Log in to the SurveySensum website.  

the image shows the login page in SurveySensum survey tool

STEP 2: Click on create a survey, and select CSAT in-built template. 

Different survey templates available on SurveySensum survey tool

STEP 3: Edit the CSAT template as per your business’ branding and then click on the share survey. 

the image shows how surveys are customizaed using the survey-builder SurveySensum

After this, you can analyze the gathered feedback with SurveySensum’s Text Analytics Software

 

Launch Your First CSAT Survey!

PS: Some tips to keep in mind while creating CSAT surveys (only for you). 

1. Best Practices to Create CSAT Surveys

Here are some best practices with which you can create effective CSAT surveys:

  • Keep it SIMPLE and CONCISE. 
  • Use a CLEAR RATING SCALE that is easy to understand and provides meaningful insights. 
  • Ask SPECIFIC QUESTIONS to obtain actionable feedback to identify areas for improvement more effectively.
  • Ask OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS to capture qualitative feedback and gain deeper insights.
  • Send surveys at the RIGHT TIME and on the RIGHT CHANNEL to gather relevant customer feedback.
  • TEST before deploying the survey to ensure its clarity and relevance. 

By following these best practices, your CSAT surveys can yield valuable insights.

Now let’s talk about how to collect customer satisfaction data.  

How to Collect CSAT Survey Data?

You can collect CSAT data through the following methods:

1. Online Surveys

An image of online WhatsApp surveys of CSAT score created on SurveySensum

Send surveys online to gather instant feedback. 

To use online surveys, create them with any survey tool like SurveySensum, and send them through the channels where your customers are like WhatsApp surveys

Advantages of using Online Surveys

  • Offers flexibility in survey design
  • Gathers real-time data
  • Incorporates advanced features like skip logic 
  • Offers quick data processing and analysis 
  • Accessibility to a broad audience 
  • Cost-effective

Disadvantages of using Online Surveys

  • Can be susceptible to self-selection bias, resulting in non-representative samples. 
  • Low response rates can impact data quality, and concerns about data privacy and security can arise.

2. Email Surveys

An email survey image of CSAT survey by H&M created on SurveySensum

Do you have your customers’ emails? 

If yes, then use them now to send personalized surveys right away.

And add the survey in the email body which lets your customers fill out the survey within the email. 

Advantages of using Email Surveys

  • Personalized communication
  • Easy tracking and management of responses
  • Reach a large number of customers quickly

Disadvantages of using Email Surveys

  • Low response rates due to emails going to spam
  • Reliance on the availability and accuracy of email addresses

3. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems

Have you tried IVR yet?

If not, then you must begin because it can catch responses from touch-tone responses or voice recognition as well. 

And it is best for those customers who are unable to access the internet or prefer the phone call to give feedback. Also, the system records the gathered feedback to later process and analyze it.

Advantages of using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems

  • Immediate feedback collection
  • Real-time insights
  • Accessible for customers without internet access
  • Best for post-interaction surveys 

Disadvantages of using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems

  • Limited response options, question length
  • Potential accuracy issues with voice recognition
  • Reliance on phone access and connectivity

You must ensure a representative sample size to gather accurate CSAT customer feedback. This can be achieved by using random or stratified sampling, allowing you to include customers from different demographics, locations, or segments.

By considering these given methods, you can gather reliable CSAT feedback to improve customer satisfaction effectively.

 

Collect & Analyze CSAT Data the Right Way!

Now that you’ve gathered all this feedback, how can you analyze and interpret the CSAT survey results? 

How to Analyze the Gathered CSAT Survey Data?

So, you’ve conducted your CSAT survey and collected a bunch of valuable data from your customers. 

Now comes the exciting part: analyzing that data to gain insights and drive improvements. 

Let’s dive in:

  1. Organize and clean the data: Start by organizing your survey responses in a structured manner. Remove any irrelevant or incomplete data to ensure accuracy in your analysis. This step will make your data easier to work with and prevent any biases or errors.
  2. Group and segment the data: To gain deeper insights, group your data based on different criteria such as customer demographics, product categories, or specific time periods. This segmentation allows you to identify patterns and trends within specific customer segments and make targeted improvements accordingly.
  3. Visualize the data: Utilize data visualization techniques such as charts, graphs, and histograms to present your findings visually. Visual representations make it easier to understand and communicate complex data patterns. 
  4. Look for patterns and trends: Dive into your data to identify common themes, patterns, or trends that emerge from the responses with tools like Text Analytics. Identifying these patterns will guide you in prioritizing areas for improvement and recognizing what’s working well.
  5. Prioritize and address issues: Based on your analysis, prioritize the issues or areas that require immediate attention. Focus on the aspects that have the most significant impact on customer satisfaction.
  6. Share insights and take action: It’s crucial to share your findings and insights with relevant stakeholders in your organization. Present the data-backed insights along with actionable recommendations to drive meaningful change.

Remember, analyzing CSAT survey data is an ongoing process. 

Regularly monitor and track your CSAT scores over time to evaluate the impact of your actions and ensure continuous improvement. Furthermore, by effectively analyzing and acting upon your CSAT survey data, you’ll create a customer-centric approach that fosters not only loyalty and growth but also long-term success.

Now it’s time to use the gathered CSAT survey data in the best way possible. 

Best Ways to Use CSAT Survey Data

Leveraging the gathered CSAT survey data can be a powerful tool for improvement. Therefore, after analyzing the data, you can proceed to utilize it effectively.

  • Internal benchmarking tells you how smoothly your business’ products and services are performing over time as you benchmark against yourself. 
  • Train your frontline employees properly to drive more customer satisfaction. 
  • Prioritize improvement areas based on their impact on satisfaction and organizational goals.
  • Set goals aligned with improvement areas to track progress and foster accountability.
  • Identify happy customers and use their feedback for testimonials, social media, websites, and more, and share it across the team for encouragement.
  • Call your customers who’re at the churn and try to resolve their issues to retain them – identify the reason, and try to close the loop.
  • Group your customers together into low and high-satisfaction groups so that you can offer some customized discounts to the low-satisfied customers to boost revenue and convert them into promoters. 

These are the best ways to use CSAT data, as exemplified by Mercedes-Daimler, an automotive brand that leveraged these methods to achieve an impressive 30% increase in its CSAT score.

Conclusion

To wrap up our entire discussion on how to calculate CSAT scores, here are some quick snapshots: 

  • Go the extra mile with customer satisfaction surveys
  • Calculate the CSAT survey score to leverage valuable insights
  • Serve with a smile and identify areas for improvement 
  • Make data-driven decisions for improvement 
  • Follow the best practices to analyze survey data effectively
  • Track performance over time
  • Benchmark against industry standards

If you want to maximize the benefits of customer satisfaction surveys, invest in an effective customer satisfaction software like SurveySensum. It has advanced survey creation capabilities, robust data analysis tools, and actionable insights, empowering you to optimize customer satisfaction and drive your business’ success. 

 

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Manisha Khandelwal

Senior Content Marketer at SurveySensum

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