What are the disadvantages of the CSAT and how can they be addressed?
The basic problem with any type of satisfaction survey is that it requires additional effort from the customer, which may not appeal so much to the customer. Under these circumstances, it can prove difficult to obtain valid samples. Often, the customers that complete surveys are those that want to vent about a defective product or an unfriendly customer support member. Also, even if this is not the case, customers who are satisfied or feel neutral about a product or service rarely complete such surveys. This inevitably results in falsified results in which, certain customer groups are considered more strongly than others. The same happens when satisfaction surveys do not cover all stages of the customer lifecycle.
Now CSAT surveys have the advantage of being quick and easy to carry out and allowing instant conclusions to be drawn about the emotional state of the customer directly after an interaction. However, this advantage also conceals some of the biggest weaknesses of the Customer Satisfaction Score: the queried values are extremely volatile snapshots that depend on how the customer feels on a particular day. The customer may simply not have had enough time to comprehensively assess the interaction with your company. They therefore usually react spontaneously and emotionally to such surveys.
Additionally, “satisfaction” in itself is a very subjective term and does not mean the same thing for every customer. This also makes it difficult to compare Customer Satisfaction Scores from different companies and industries (keyword: benchmarking).
Thus, the CSAT is unable to provide a comprehensive overview of customer satisfaction. Instead, it must be seen as part of a more complex overall picture and can only be used in combination with other measurement models to provide a meaningful analysis. In addition to extensive email surveys and social media monitoring, many companies also use the following three metrics:
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): this KPI is often used together with, or as an alternative to, the CSAT. With the basic question “would you recommend the company to others?”, it captures the overall proportions of fans and critics of your company. The NPS makes it possible to predict concrete behavioral intentions of your customers and to assess their loyalty to your company.
- Customer Effort Scores (CES): the CES records the effort required by the customers to resolve their issue. For example, the time it took to navigate your homepage, or the number of calls and emails it took to resolve a problem, both play a role.
- Things Gone Wrong (TGW): this metric concentrates on the dissatisfaction of the customers. It relates the frequency of complaints to the total number of interactions. This metric allows you to quickly identify where your company needs the most improvement.