Every business owner wants to know how your customers feel about your company to increase customer loyalty and drive more sales. According to the statistics, companies that focus on improving customer experience can expect an 80% increase in revenue. And by sending the surveys to your customers, you will be able to stay updated on customer satisfaction. As a consequence, you will know what to do next.
Many companies use Customer Satisfaction or CSAT or Net Promoter Score or NPS surveys to achieve this goal. Each of these surveys consists of close-ended questions that aimed to help companies find out the customer satisfaction score and the reasons behind these scores.
So, are they entirely identical? Not really. Each of them touches on a different factor of customer satisfaction and works on a different level.
Our article will dive deeper into the CSAT vs NPS review. It will describe which one your business needs now and tell the rationale for using the combo of two. So, keep on reading.
Try all-in-one solution for CSAT and NPS for free!
Start right nowCSAT vs NPS: What are they?
What is CSAT?
Customer Satisfaction Score is a metric that helps you identify the customer satisfaction rate with a company, its products, or a particular interaction during their buyer's journey.
Its main aim is to measure the level of happiness after each customer touchpoint. For example, they could purchase, make a transaction, get a subscription, etc. Moreover, we should indicate that this touchpoint must be meaningful.
Usually, CSAT surveys offer customers to rank the service they received using a specific scale, like a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is 'totally unsatisfied,' and 5 is 'totally satisfied.' As a result, you get such response scores as:
- High Score: this score means that you provide an excellent customer service experience and exceed customer expectations with your services or products.
- Neutral Score: this score means that your customers are indifferent to your company. They may face some issues with your product or service. Neutral customer feedback means you need to improve your services or products and try how your customers use new strategies.
- Low Score: this score means that your customers are totally unsatisfied with your services, and you need improvements ASAP (if you want your business to survive the competition).
By offering open-ended customer survey questions in your CSAT surveys, you can find all the necessary information and the reasons for such a score. You can also determine what drives your satisfaction score up or down. Then, you might tackle these problems by analyzing the quantitative data.
When speaking of CSAT surveys, it is necessary to mention the Customer Effort Score or CES, as it is a type of CSAT. It measures how easily your customers use your products or services to resolve their issues, from 'very easy' to 'very difficult.' These surveys are also sent as a follow-up after each customer interaction with a company.
Why is CSAT important?
Why should you add a CSAT survey to your marketing strategy? The reasons are pretty obvious. First, customers give helpful insights into whether products and services worked well. Second, if it serves them well, you know you are on the right track. Otherwise, you should reconsider your strategic vision entirely.
Besides, such customer experience surveys can help you understand how your customers see your business. You also might figure out what they think of some specific customer service interactions.
Thanks to the flexibility of the questions in the customer satisfaction survey, you can collect the data throughout the whole customer lifecycle and then compare the results. This way, you will be able to identify whether your service or product doesn't satisfy their needs or if they forget about your brand after a while.
How to measure CSAT?
Measuring CSAT is straightforward and involves a simple process. After a key interaction, like a purchase or a customer service conversation, you send a short survey to your customers asking, “How satisfied were you with [interaction/product/service]?”
Customers rate their experience on a scale, usually from 1 to 5, where 1 means “totally unsatisfied” and 5 means “totally satisfied.” To calculate your CSAT score, just look at the percentage of positive responses (4s and 5s) using this formula:
This quick and easy method helps you keep track of how happy your customers are and identify areas for improvement.
What is NPS?
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a metric that helps you identify whether your customers will recommend or promote your company, service, or product to their friends or family.
NPS customer survey asks customers to indicate their referral intention on a scale of 0 to 10. According to the customers' survey responses, there would be three main categories:
- Promoters: (score 9-10) those are customers that are your loyal brand advocates. They are pleased with your company and services and want to tell everyone about the outstanding customer experience they got.
- Passives: (score 7-8) those are customers who are indifferent to your brand, and they may be looking somewhere else for a similar product or service in the future. Note that 50% of customers will switch to your competitor after just a single bad experience. So, to catch their attention, you have to work harder and improve your services; otherwise, they will choose your competitor over you.
- Detractors: (0-6) customers are totally unhappy with your products or services and may even share some negative feedback about your company with others. You can find out the reasons behind this by analyzing their responses to your open-ended questions and overall NPS score. That will help you address their issues and possibly win them, too.
You have to include questions like 'How can we improve your customer experience?' in your NPS survey for such customers. The answer will help you understand how you can win this type of customer.
Why is NPS important?
Did you know that 77% of customers think that outstanding customer service is the main factor in earning brand loyalty?
NPS is an excellent tool to measure the indicator of customer loyalty. Repeat customers, as well as word-of-mouth marketing, are a great way to increase your sales. Besides, it is much cheaper to retain your existing customers than to find new ones. Just imagine that even a 5% increase in customer retention can result in a 25% increase in revenue.
By understanding more about loyal customer-increasing tools, you can drastically reduce customer acquisition and churn. And the happier and more satisfied your customers are, the higher chances are that they will come back for more. Besides, the chances that such customers would self-market your products or services and recommend you to everyone they know are higher, too.
NPS surveys can also help you predict your possibilities for growth. In addition, the low metric shows you what and why you need to change your business operations. In contrast, a high score will show you that you should keep going.
How to measure your NPS metric?
To measure NPS, simply ask your customers to rate their likelihood of recommending your company on a scale from 0 to 10. Once you have the responses, categorize them into Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
To calculate your NPS, use this formula:
This score ranges from -100 to 100 and offers a clear picture of how many customers are enthusiastic about your brand versus how many may be dissatisfied. A positive score indicates that you have more Promoters than Detractors, signaling a healthy level of customer loyalty. If your score is low or negative, it's a signal that improvements are needed to boost satisfaction and retain customers.
What is the difference between CSAT and NPS?
As you already understand, CSAT and NPS scores are both connected with measuring different aspects of customer experience. Here are some of the Net Promoter Score vs Customer Satisfaction main differences:
- CSAT measures customers' short-term satisfaction after a particular interaction with your brand, while NPS measures the overall score of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Moreover, you can use them at different stages of the buyer's journey. CSAT is measured just after specific interactions (like closing a ticket, finishing a trial period, making a purchase, etc.) On the contrary, you should calculate the NPS score at the end of your buyer's journey. What is more, it should be used with some neutral touchpoints so that customers do not link their responses with their interactions. NPS survey would be an excellent choice after some significant changes with your company, like merging with another company, rebranding, or some PR crisis.
- The CSAT score helps you get insights and analyze your customer interactions and their experiences at a micro level, while the NPS score tells you about the insights on the macro level.
- If your customers respond negatively, you need to take action immediately. However, the NPS detractor metric suggests real-time measures to prevent a negative perception of your brand.
CSAT vs NPS: What metric should you use?
Choosing CSAT vs NPS depends on the insights you’re looking to gain. Both metrics offer valuable feedback but focus on different aspects of the customer experience. Let’s break down when it’s best to use each one.
When to use CSAT?
CSAT is ideal when you want immediate feedback on specific interactions, products, or services. Suppose you’re looking to measure customer satisfaction after a key touchpoint—like a purchase, support call, or product demo—CSAT surveys provide quick and actionable insights.
So, use CSAT when you want to zoom in on short-term customer happiness after critical interactions.
When to use NPS?
NPS, on the other hand, is best for gauging long-term customer loyalty and brand perception. This metric helps you understand whether customers will stick with you over time and recommend your business to others. It’s particularly useful for identifying overall sentiment and predicting future opportunities.
So, use it when you want to see the bigger picture of customer loyalty and the potential for word-of-mouth growth.
How NPS and CSAT can be used together?
So now, the question is: 'Should you combine these two surveys?' The answer is: 'Sure.'
A single survey won't give you a clear vision of what your customers think of you and your business. But, at the same time, the combo of both these metrics can give you a detailed overview of your customer experience and their satisfaction level and ways to increase them. Both NPS and CSAT surveys have pros and cons, so it is a great option to use them together.
Combine NPS and CSAT surveys easily
Get free trialNPS reflects your customers' view of your whole business and can give you the necessary insights about ways of building customer loyalty. CSAT provides you with more tactical data by describing what happens on your day-to-day level and indicates which interactions lead to which NPS scores.
By asking for your customer's feedback, you can see the impact of each interaction and the ways in which it can be improved. However, when your CSAT score can be improved quickly, NPS ones are slower as they reflect all the customer interactions with your company.
Nevertheless, both these scores are influential for the success of your business as they help you determine the overall satisfaction level, your possibilities for growth, and the effectiveness of the changes.
CSAT vs NPS: The easiest way to measure
Now you know the importance of both metrics. Therefore, it is time to find out how to effortlessly send mass email campaigns to measure a customer satisfaction score.
Today, numerous tools exist that will make your life as a marketer a bit easier. For example, if you use the Zendesk help desk, you can take advantage of Proactive Campaigns, an easy mass outbound email sender. Using it, you will be able to add the rates, feedback, and CSAT and NPS surveys to your emails. Moreover, you will find out customers' honest thoughts about your business and take necessary actions.
NPS and Survey for Zendesk: All-in-one solution app
No matter what type of score you are willing to find out, there is an app for Zendesk users that suits all your needs. NPS and Survey is a key to quickly and easily gathering customer feedback. It offers you four Zendesk survey types to measure both scores:
- Five-star rating (CSAT)
- Yes and No buttons (CSAT)
- 0 - 10 rating (NPS)
- Text feedback (Open-ended questions)
Choosing the right survey type and customizing it with the question you're interested in will give you a clear picture of your customer's satisfaction. There is an opportunity to provide an additional question to ask about different aspects of your services. Plus, you can add an extra message to find out what’s wrong or can be improved.
For example, your company requires CSAT metrics. In this case, one of the best options is a CSAT survey type with Yes and No buttons, where you should provide the question, e.g., "Are you satisfied with this answer?" Then, manage the language you need and set up a trigger to send this satisfaction survey with comment updates.
The same works with the Net Promoter Score, but it's better to give preference, for example, to a 0 - 10 rating. The question could be: "How would you rate your experience in our company?" and adjust the Zendesk survey to be sent at the end of the interaction after solving the ticket.
Moreover, the application shows detailed statistics about customer responses. Use this data to analyze your support teamwork and determine weaknesses and points for instant improvement and long-term development.
As you see, the NPS and Survey app gives all the tools to satisfy any request for creating personalized Zendesk surveys. So, take your chance to start implementing surveys into your customer interactions as effectively as possible with the GrowthDot app.
NPS vs CSAT: Conclusion
So, which survey is better? CSAT vs NPS?
They both are great at measuring your overall customer satisfaction score to improve customer experiences. Also, they give you helpful insights into how your company is doing. Therefore, you will get information about what areas you need to improve. So, these metrics are complementary, and it's crucial to understand when to use which one. For this, you need to think of your ultimate goals.
The hard truth is that customers tend to share their negative experiences about the service or product they receive. By using NPS and CSAT metrics, you will be able to track those unhappy customers and solve their issues.
What is more, do not underestimate the open-ended questions and responses and analyze the qualitative data deeply. This data will help you better understand your customers' needs and which bottlenecks you currently have.
And, of course, do not forget that those who know the customers better win.
FAQs
What is a good CSAT score benchmark?
A good Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score typically falls between 75% and 85%, which can vary depending on your industry. In general, a higher CSAT score indicates that your customers are happy with specific interactions or products.
What is a good NPS score benchmark?
For Net Promoter Score (NPS), a score above 50 is considered excellent, while anything above 70 is world-class. Scores below 0 indicate that you have more Detractors than Promoters, which could signal serious issues with customer loyalty.
How often should CSAT and NPS surveys be conducted?
For CSAT, surveys should be sent after key touchpoints like purchases, support interactions, or product demos. These surveys provide real-time insights into customer satisfaction. On the other hand, NPS surveys are usually conducted quarterly or annually, as they measure long-term loyalty.
How do CSAT and NPS contribute to the overall customer experience (CX) strategy?
NPS and CSAT are crucial in shaping your customer experience (CX) strategy. CSAT helps you monitor specific touchpoints and improve customer interactions quickly. On the other hand, NPS offers a broader view of customer loyalty and brand perception. Together, CSAT vs NPS surveys give you a comprehensive view of how your customers feel at every stage of their journey.
