What Is a CSAT Survey?
A Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey measures how satisfied customers are with a specific interaction, product, or experience. Unlike NPS (which measures overall loyalty) or CES (which measures effort), CSAT captures immediate, transactional satisfaction.
The core CSAT question is: "How satisfied were you with [experience]?" Respondents answer on a scale — typically 1–5 stars or 1–5 numbers. Your CSAT score is the percentage of respondents who gave a positive rating (4 or 5 out of 5).
CSAT Formula
CSAT = (Positive responses ÷ Total responses) × 100
Example: 80 positive responses out of 100 total → CSAT = 80%
CSAT vs NPS vs CES: Which to Use?
| Metric | Measures | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| CSAT | Satisfaction with a specific interaction | Post-purchase, post-support, post-event |
| NPS | Overall loyalty and likelihood to recommend | Relationship health, growth prediction |
| CES | Effort required to complete a task | Support interactions, onboarding flows |
10 Effective CSAT Survey Questions
How satisfied were you with your overall experience today?
How would you rate the quality of our product/service?
How satisfied were you with the speed of our response?
How easy was it to find what you were looking for?
How well did our team understand your needs?
How satisfied are you with the value for money?
How would you rate the quality of support you received?
How satisfied were you with the onboarding experience?
How likely are you to use our service again?
Is there anything we could have done better?
How does your organisation currently collect customer satisfaction feedback?
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CSAT Survey Best Practices
Send CSAT surveys immediately after the interaction — within 24 hours while the experience is fresh.
Keep it to 1–3 questions. A CSAT survey is not the place for a 10-question deep dive.
Use a consistent scale across all surveys so you can compare scores over time.
Always include one open-text follow-up: "What could we have done better?" — this is where the actionable insight lives.
Segment CSAT scores by product, team, channel, and customer type to identify where problems are concentrated.
Set up alerts for low CSAT scores (1–2 out of 5) so your team can follow up immediately.
Share CSAT results with frontline teams — they need to know how their work is landing.
Use AI analysis to automatically categorise open-text responses into themes.
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