CSAT is not the villain… but it’s definitely not the hero either. It’s one of those metrics that’s everywhere because everyone’s tracking it, reporting on it, and ultimately trying to improve it. 

But when you take a step back and really look at what CSAT is measuring and how it’s being used, it starts to fall apart a bit. 

Because while it’s useful in the moment, it doesn’t always tell you the full story. So, if you’re using it in isolation, you might just be missing some pretty major insight. 

In this blog, I’m going to run through what CSAT actually measures, where it falls short, and how you can get a more accurate view of what’s really going on in your contact centre. 

What CSAT actually tells you. 

At its core, CSAT is simple. 

You ask the customer a question like “How satisfied were you with your experience today?” and the customer gives you a score, usually on a scale from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10.  

Then you track the average, or the percentage of responses that hit your “satisfied” threshold. 

It’s quick. It’s easy. And when used properly, it can give you a sense of how customers feel in the moment. 

That’s the key part, it’s just a snapshot. It’s not the whole story, not the full customer journey, it’s just a glimpse into how that particular interaction made them feel. 

It’s useful for spotting short-term issues, getting feedback at scale, and keeping a general pulse on satisfaction levels. And when it’s trending consistently in one direction, it can absolutely be a helpful flag that something’s working well, or not. 

But it only ever tells you how someone felt right then and there. It doesn’t tell you what happened before. It doesn’t tell you what happened after. And it definitely doesn’t explain why. 

The common pitfalls 

CSAT sounds simple, but the way it’s used in most contact centres leaves a lot to be desired. 

One of the biggest issues? Timing. If you send the survey too soon, the customer might still be waiting for a follow-up. Too late, and the emotional reaction is gone. And if you send it to everyone, every time, it becomes background noise. Most people ignore it, unless they’re annoyed. 

Then there’s the angry-customer effect. People are far more likely to fill out a survey when they’re frustrated than when they’re happy. That skews your results and paints a more negative picture than what’s actually happening. 

And let’s be honest, CSAT gets misused all the time. Businesses start treating it like the only thing that matters. Agents get rewarded or penalised based on scores that don’t reflect the full situation. A customer could have a bad experience because of a broken system or poor process, but the agent still gets hit with the low score. That kind of culture kills motivation, and it doesn’t actually improve anything. 

CSAT should be one tool in the kit, not the whole toolkit. But in most cases, it ends up taking centre stage while everything else gets ignored. 

What CSAT doesn’t tell you 

So, you’ve got a number. Great. 

But what does that number actually mean? 

CSAT gives you a score, but it doesn’t tell you anything about what happened before, during, or after the interaction. It doesn’t tell you whether the issue was actually resolved. It doesn’t tell you if the customer had to try five different channels before finally getting through. And it definitely doesn’t tell you what’s going to happen next. 

They might have been “satisfied” in the moment, but that doesn’t mean they trust you. It doesn’t mean they’ll come back. And it doesn’t mean they won’t switch to a competitor the second they see a better offer. 

It also doesn’t give you any real context. A 3 out of 5 could mean “meh, that was fine” or “this was a total nightmare, but the agent was nice.” And you’ve got no idea which one it is unless you dig deeper. 

It’s like getting a thumbs up after a conversation but having no clue what the person actually thought.  

Polite? Maybe.  

Honest? Probably not. 

CSAT gives you a signal. But if you don’t combine it with other data, it’s just noise. 

What to track alongside CSAT 

If you want to get a real understanding of your customer experience, CSAT on its own won’t cut it. You need to look at it alongside other metrics that fill in the gaps. 

First up, First Contact Resolution (FCR). Did the customer get their issue sorted the first time they got in touch? If not, even a “satisfied” score can be misleading. You might get a 4 out of 5 just because the agent was helpful, but if they had to call back again tomorrow, the experience still wasn’t great. 

Then there’s sentiment analysis. This is where things get interesting. It shows you how the customer was feeling throughout the interaction, not just what they ticked in a survey box afterwards. Frustration, confusion, relief, trust. All the stuff you can’t always hear, but definitely matters. 

You also want to look at conversation analysis and QA insights. What actually happened in the interaction? Was it handled well? Did the agent follow process? Did the system fail them? If you don’t know what led to the score, you can’t do anything useful with it. 

And let’s not forget things like abandonment rates and contact volume. If customers are dropping out of the journey before they even reach you, you’re not going to get a CSAT score at all — but that’s still a huge red flag. 

If you’re using QContact, you’ve got all of this in one place. CSAT sits alongside sentiment, conversation data, performance insights and more. So you’re not guessing, you’re actually seeing the full picture. 

So, what is a good CSAT score? 

This one comes up all the time. What’s a “good” CSAT score? How do we compare to other companies? Are we above or below average? 

The honest answer? It depends. 

Some industries naturally score higher than others. A food delivery app is going to get very different feedback than an insurance provider or a utility company. Expectations are different. Emotions are different. And so is the context. 

The same goes for channels. People who get fast answers over live chat might give you a high score, while customers who have to call and wait in a queue might score lower, even if their issue is resolved. 

Then there’s complexity. A customer asking for an address change probably isn’t going to rate the experience the same way as someone calling about a fraud case or a cancelled booking. 

So instead of chasing a magic number, look at trends. Are your scores improving over time? Are certain teams or channels consistently dragging the average down? Are specific types of queries getting worse results? 

A “good” CSAT score is one that makes sense for your business, your customers and your context. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being aware. 

Final thoughts? Ask better questions 

CSAT isn’t a bad metric. It just gets treated like it’s the only one that matters. 

When it’s used properly, it can give you valuable feedback and help you spot trends. But if you’re using it in isolation, or putting all the pressure on your team to chase higher scores without fixing the things that are actually broken, you’re not getting the full picture. You’re just getting numbers. 

The real work happens when you start asking better questions. 

What was the experience like before the survey? What do the conversations actually sound like? What do customers feel, not just say? And what can we learn from the interactions we’re not measuring at all? 

CSAT gives you one view. But when you combine it with other tools, the lights come on. That’s when you see the real customer experience, not just the score at the end of the call. 

And once you see it, you can actually start to change it. 

#CSAT #CustomerSatisfaction #CustomerInsights #AIAnalysis # 

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With QContact, you’re not just stuck looking at CSAT scores and hoping for the best. You can pair those numbers with real conversation insight, sentiment tracking, coaching data and performance trends — all in one place. 

So instead of guessing what went wrong, you can actually see it, then fix it, and maybe even stop it from happening again.  

If you’re ready to go deeper than just scores, we can help with that. 

Let’s show you how QContact makes it easier to connect the dots.  

Book a demo and see it for yourself.