Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) measures how satisfied a customer is, typically with a specific interaction, by asking a direct question such as "How satisfied were you with this support experience?" on a short scale. The score is usually expressed as the percentage of responses that fall in the top satisfied buckets. Because it is tied to a moment, CSAT is more granular and immediate than NPS.
CSAT versus NPS
The two are often confused but answer different questions. CSAT asks "were you happy with this?" right after an interaction, making it a tactical, transactional read. NPS asks "would you recommend us?" as a measure of overall loyalty. A customer can report high CSAT on individual tickets while their NPS slides, or the reverse, which is why mature teams track both rather than picking one.
- CSAT is transactional and immediate; NPS is relational and periodic.
- A pattern of low CSAT on support interactions is a leading risk signal.
- Like NPS, CSAT is survey-based and works best alongside continuous sentiment analysis.
CSAT, NPS, and sentiment together form the voice-of-customer layer of a health score. None is sufficient alone, but combined with behavioral signals they give a rounded read on whether an account is thriving or quietly turning into an at-risk account.