Customer satisfaction surveys: CSAT, questions and how to calculate it

A satisfaction survey answers a simple question: did the customer like what you just did for them? Unlike NPS, which measures how people feel about the company as a whole, satisfaction is measured for specific moments: a purchase, a delivery, a support request, a visit.

The main question

How satisfied are you with [your purchase, the delivery, our support]?

The answer is on a scale from 1 to 5: 1 means very dissatisfied, 5 means very satisfied. Name the specific moment rather than our service in general: the answer will be more accurate, and you will know what to fix.

How to calculate CSAT

CSAT = % of answers that are 4 or 5

Example. 120 people answered: 70 gave a 5, 26 gave a 4, and the other 24 gave between 1 and 3. Satisfied customers: 70 + 26 = 96, which is 96 / 120 = 80%. CSAT = 80%.

You can look at the average score too, but the share of satisfied customers is easier to read and less affected by a few very low scores.

What to ask besides the score

• What did you like most? This tells you what not to break when you make changes.
• What went wrong? Only for those who gave 1 to 3. This is the most valuable question in the survey.
• May we contact you? If someone is unhappy and willing to talk, it is worth calling them back.

You do not need more than two or three questions: a satisfaction survey should take half a minute.

How to build it in simpoll

1. Create a survey form (how to create a survey). On page 1, add a single choice question with five options from 1 to 5.
2. On page 2, add a long text question, What went wrong?, and a field for a phone number or email if you need one.
3. On the Branching tab, add two rules: if the respondent chooses 4, finish the survey; if they choose 5, finish the survey. Then only people who gave 1 to 3 see page 2. See Branching logic for how this works.
4. Turn on notifications about new responses so complaints reach your inbox straight away instead of waiting for a report.
5. Send the link right after the moment you are measuring: in the delivery email, in the message that closes a support ticket, or as a QR code on the receipt.

What to do with the results

• Reply to unhappy customers quickly: someone whose problem you solved often becomes more loyal than someone who never had a problem.
• Calculate CSAT separately for each channel and moment: filters will show whether delivery or support is falling behind.
• Watch the trend week by week or month by month rather than a single number.