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What is Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

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When discussing about customer experience it is unavoidable to talk about satisfaction, and without a doubt it is one of the KPIs we must consider when measuring the experience in our company. Hence the importance of knowing the concept of CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score).

Customer Satisfaction Score or CSAT

The CSAT is surely the most classic and widespread method to measure the experience that our customers live. Despite this, we must consider before making comparatives that this index does not have a general homologation as other indexes have that help us in measuring the customer experience in our companies.

What are we talking about then?

How many of you have passed through a store, or through an airport and on the way you have found a panel with four buttons that represent faces (from angry red to happy green)? Well, that's what we are talking about.

There is a wide variety of ways to build the CSAT index, and as usual, we must be aware of what we want to measure, how we are going to measure it and what we are going to do with that measurement to avoid it becomes in another empty number within our KPIs. All this while we are being conscious of how the measurement has been structured.

The most used scale is the one that goes from 1 - "not satisfied at all" to 5 - "totally satisfied", but it is possible to modify it, and in fact it is advisable to internally evaluate this index considering factors and cultural biases.

What does this mean? Well, in individualistic cultures, there is a greater tendency to an extreme assessment (the highest or the lowest), while in cultures with greater collective awareness it is usually valued with medium scores.

5 keys considerations

1. Business Type: we must consider whether we are dealing with a measurement of a service or a product. Can you imagine a product assessment after buying a television just outside the store when you have not even opened the box?

2. Timing: The measurement must be given at the right time, and especially with this score. It is highly oriented to a transactional model, for this reason it must be given in the short term after the last point of contact. In the former case of television, the normal product trial period for the launch of the survey should be estimated.

3. Scale: Not in all countries or cultures we evaluate with the same scale. Although the most common scale is 1-5, there are other scales such as 1-7 or 1-10 applicable for this index. Ideally, the scale should be adapted to the cultural and competitive framework in which it will be developed.

4. Environment and location: we also must consider the location where evaluate. Am I the only one who feels self-conscious when the survey buttons are in front of the counter where employee is charging me? What if the service has not been good? What if he is directly asking me to select it? Shall I squeeze the happy face so that the store clerk doesn't look at me badly?

5. Act on it! Let's not leave the measurement as just another number to see its evolution as if it were watching bamboo grow. Every measurement must have an explanation and an action plan to reinforce if the result is positive, and to redirect it if we are obtaining negative values.

But Customer Experience not only live off satisfaction

In any case, we cannot bet all our actions and measurements on CSAT, this must be part of a complete CEM dashboard that gives us a better understanding of what is our clients are living with us.

Customer satisfaction is a cornerstone in our relationship with clients, but we must also treat the emotional connection. A Harvard Business Review study (“The New Science of Customer Emotions”) indicates that customers who, in addition to being highly satisfied, have a complete emotional connection with the brand, have an average value of 52% higher for companies in comparison with clients only satisfied.

Satisfied customers? Definitely! And let’s go for the next goal!

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