Customer Satisfaction Rate (CSAT)
Satisfaction with a specific interaction.
What it measures
Satisfaction score for a specific interaction or experience, typically via a survey ("How satisfied were you?" on a 1-5 scale). Unlike NPS, which gauges overall loyalty, CSAT is best for evaluating specific touchpoints.
Calculation Variants
- Top-2 Box
- The industry standard. Only responses of 4 or 5 (on a 5-point scale) are counted as "Satisfied".
- Average Score
- Averaging all responses. Less useful because a 3 (Neutral) drags down the score but isn't necessarily a failure.
Benchmarks
- B2C: Target 80%+
- B2B enterprise: Target 90%+
Figures reviewed June 2026. Benchmarks vary by source and drift over time — treat as directional and verify against your own data.
What to watch
- Rising: The specific experience you're measuring is improving. Watch response rates, as low participation can skew results toward extremes.
- Falling: Something changed in that touchpoint. Because CSAT is context-specific, you can often pinpoint the issue. Compare before/after when you make changes.
In practice
An online education platform added video transcripts and saw course CSAT rise from 72% to 86%. But completion rates didn't improve. Learners were more satisfied but using transcripts to skim rather than engage. They redesigned transcripts as a supplement rather than an alternative to video.
Illustrative scenario — a representative composite, not a specific company.
Vanity Risk
CSAT is context-specific by design, but reporting a single aggregate CSAT score across all touchpoints is vanity. An 85% average can hide that support is at 95% while onboarding is at 60%.
Related: CES — effort-based satisfaction.; NPS — overall loyalty measure.