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Beyond CSAT: The 5 Key Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Need to Measure 

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5 Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Should Track

In today’s highly competitive business landscape, customer satisfaction is paramount for the success and growth of any organization. Happy and satisfied customers tend to stay loyal and can bring even more sales to your business. 
To gauge the level of satisfaction among your customers, it’s essential to track and measure key metrics that reflect their experiences and perceptions. In this article, we will explore five customer satisfaction metrics that every business should consider tracking. These metrics provide valuable insights into customer sentiments, help identify areas for improvement, and enable companies to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
<h2>Beyond CSAT: The 5 Key Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Need to Measure</h2>
When it comes to measuring customer satisfaction, the traditional Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score has long been used as a benchmark. You can still use this metric but it won’t be enough for most businesses. The CSAT score does not provide enough action items or context to address any potential issues that could affect<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/customer-retention-down-heres-what-to-do/"> customer retention</a> and business success.
Customer satisfaction is subjective and often influenced by various factors, like the quality of support, reliability, and responsiveness of the business, and the price of the service or product. With the CSAT score, there is no way to know the reason behind a customer rating. You won’t be able to find learn which factors to improve and which service aspects make customers happy.
If businesses want to gain a deeper understanding of customer satisfaction and drive meaningful improvements, they must go beyond CSAT and embrace a broader set of metrics.
If you don’t know where to start, below are five other key customer metrics explained in detail, highlighting their importance and how to measure customer satisfaction effectively. 
<h2>What are customer satisfaction metrics?</h2>
Before discussing the five customer satisfaction metrics, your business should consider tracking today, let’s define customer satisfaction metrics in general. 
These days, customer expectations are skyrocketing. They expect connected journeys, personalization, innovation, data protection, and seamless, hassle-free experiences from every business they interact with. If customers’ expectations are not met, they are unlikely to give you their business again. They may even hurt your reputation by spreading negative words about your company.
A customer satisfaction metric will help you know how pleased your customers are with your business. It can also give valuable insights into customer behaviors, perceptions, and preferences that you can use to make your offerings even better and<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/customer-retention-kpis/"> improve customer loyalty</a>.
<h2>5 Key Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Should Track</h2>
<h3>1. Net Promoter Score</h3>
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a simple metric used to measure how likely a customer is to recommend your service or products.
With NPS, you send a one-question survey to your customers. The question can be a variation of this common format: “How likely are you to recommend (business) to a (colleague) or friend?” You can use a rating scale of 0 to 10 or be more creative and use emojis. 
The best thing about NPS is its simplicity. That single question will let you know your customer’s sentiments. It also works for businesses of all shapes and sizes, no matter what industry you’re in. And since the survey is short and easy to answer, people will likely respond.
After customers are finished rating their likelihood of recommending your business, you can segment them into three groups: promoters, passives, and detractors. 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Promoter: They gave you a rating of 9 or 10. This group of customers is often loyal and is likely to go out of their way to follow your business and recommend your offers, often unprompted. They are likely to stick with you for the long haul.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Passives: They gave you a rating of 7 or 8. This group of customers probably liked your service or product but did not see it as the best. They may have an issue or two about what they got. You cannot expect them to personally vouch for your service or product as the best in the market. They will either stick with your brand or go with competitors.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Detractors: They gave you a rating of 6 or below. This group of customers is likely to churn and even spread negative things about your brand. </li>
</ul>
To calculate NPS, you simply subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. The result will show you where you stand with your customers. However, it will not reveal the reason behind your score. You can determine what to do next by looking at customer feedback. 
NPS is quite like the benchmark of metrics, which is the CSAT score. But unlike CSAT, which focuses on client satisfaction, NPS measures each customer’s brand loyalty and experience.
<h3>2. Customer Effort Score</h3>
Customer Effort Score (CES) aims to determine how much effort a customer feels they must exert to use a service or product, resolve an issue, or accomplish whatever they set out to do. In simpler terms, this metric measures the ease of use of the products and services you offer.
Like NPS, CES is typically gathered with a survey that has one question that reads, “How much effort did you personally have to put forth to handle your request?” 
CES works by quantifying the perceived effort customers associate with specific interactions. The lower the effort required, the higher the CES score, indicating a positive customer experience. Organizations can use CES feedback to identify pain points, streamline processes, and proactively address customer needs, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
<h3>3. Customer Acquisition Cost</h3>
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures how much a business spends to get new customers. It is the total cost of marketing and sales efforts, plus any other asset used to convince a lead to purchase a service or product. 
CAC is an important business metric to measure. It helps businesses calculate the overall value of a customer and the resulting ROI of the acquisition. It can also give your business valuable insight into possible inefficiencies within the sales funnel, so you can avoid wasting money and effort on things that do not work.
CAC is calculated by adding up all sales and marketing expenses, then dividing the total cost by the number of new customers acquired within a specific period. 
To know whether the CAC is too low or too high, you will need to find out the amount of revenue coming in from the existing customers, also called customer lifetime value (CLV). CLV is calculated by multiplying the business’ yearly revenue by the average revenue earned from a single customer. 
CAC is also a good<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/7-critical-local-marketing-metrics-you-need-to-track/"> marketing metric</a> every start-up should consider tracking.
<h3>4. Customer Health Score </h3>
The customer health score is a metric you can use to determine whether a customer is planning to stick with your brand or leave. It’s particularly useful for customer service teams and account managers because it allows them to find unhappy customers who are at risk of churning and basically take any necessary action before it’s too late.
The customer health score combines all historical data on the customer, like CES and CSAT, and shows a color that symbolizes the customer’s feeling about the business. Businesses typically use green, yellow, and red. The red color means the customer is at risk of churning, yellow means there’s an opportunity for improvement, and green means the customer is satisfied. 
<h3>5. Customer Satisfaction Score </h3>
<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/what-is-csat/">Customer Satisfaction</a> (CSAT) score is a widely accepted metric to determine whether your customers are happy and content with your service or products. But unlike<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/nps-vs-csat/"> Net Promoter Score,</a> CSAT measures the level of satisfaction customers have with a product, service, or overall experience provided by a company.
It is often measured through surveys where customers rate their satisfaction on a scale, typically ranging from 1 to 5. The average score is calculated to gauge the overall satisfaction level.
To calculate the CSAT score, you will need to count the number of survey responses and the number of  “satisfied” (4) or “very satisfied” (5) ratings. Divide the number of respondents who rated you four or five by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100, and the result would be the percentage of satisfied customers.
For example, there are 100 survey respondents. Suppose 40 of the respondents rated you four and 35 of them rated you five. To get your CSAT score, this will be the sample computation: 
75 (40+35) x 100=0.75
If you multiply the result by 100, you’ll get 75%, which becomes the CSAT score.
This metric is important because it helps businesses understand how well they meet their customers’ expectations and needs. It provides insights into areas that require improvement and identifies opportunities for enhancing the customer experience. A high CSAT score indicates satisfied customers who are more likely to become loyal customers and recommend the business to others.
But what’s exactly a good CSAT score? It usually depends on the industry. Nevertheless, a good score is somewhere between 75% and 85%. Note that there are many other metrics your business can track in order to gauge customer satisfaction.
<h2>Benefits Of Measuring Customer Satisfaction</h2>
Measuring customer satisfaction is crucial for businesses that want to thrive in a competitive market. By understanding how satisfied your customers are, you can make informed decisions to enhance their experience and drive business growth.
Here are three key benefits of measuring customer satisfaction:
<h3>1. Improve customer retention.</h3>
Customer satisfaction is closely linked to customer loyalty and retention. Satisfied customers are more likely to continue doing business with you, renew subscriptions, and make repeat purchases. 
Measuring customer satisfaction allows you to identify areas where you may have fallen short and take proactive steps to address them. By resolving customer issues, improving product quality, and enhancing service delivery, you can<a href="https://www.podium.com/article/retention-rate/"> increase customer retention</a> and foster long-term relationships.
<h3>2. Identify opportunities for improvement. </h3>
Measuring customer satisfaction provides valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your business. It helps you identify pain points, bottlenecks, and areas where customers may be dissatisfied.
You can pinpoint specific areas that need improvement by analyzing feedback and data from customer satisfaction surveys, reviews, and support interactions. It allows you to allocate resources effectively, implement targeted improvements, and enhance customer experience.
<h3>3. Increase customer advocacy.</h3>
Satisfied customers are more likely to become advocates for your brand. When customers have a positive experience, they are inclined to recommend your products or services to others online and through word-of-mouth. 
You can identify your most loyal, happiest customers by consistently measuring customer satisfaction. Engaging with these customers, nurturing their loyalty, and leveraging their advocacy can increase brand visibility, new customer acquisition, and overall business growth.
<h2>Track Customer Satisfaction Metrics</h2>
When tracking customer satisfaction metrics, tools like Podium—an all-in-one communication platform for local businesses—can make the process faster and easier. 
Collect<a href="https://www.podium.com/reviews/"> Reviews</a> to improve your reputation and authority, and gather insight into what customers are and aren’t enjoying when it comes to your business. Podium Reviews also comes with AI-powered features to expedite the process of responding to each review you get. Use your <a href="https://www.podium.com/inbox/">Inbox</a> to manage all customer communication in a single location and send customer surveys. You can even use it to send text-based invoicing and payments. Integrate with your <a href="https://www.podium.com/marketplace/hubspot">CRM</a> or <a href="https://www.podium.com/marketplace/mailchimp-2">email tool</a>  to sync contacts and conversations automatically between platforms.

Beyond CSAT: The 5 Key Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Need to Measure

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