What is customer satisfaction?
Customer satisfaction describes the degree to which a customer’s expectations of a product or service are met or exceeded.
It is a subjective feeling that depends heavily on the comparison between expectations and actual performance.
How is customer satisfaction measured?
Customer satisfaction can be measured in various ways:
- CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): Immediately after contact, e.g., with the question “How satisfied were you?” on a scale of 1–5.
- NPS (Net Promoter Score): Measures willingness to recommend with the question: “How likely are you to recommend us?”
- CES (Customer Effort Score): Asks how easy it was for a customer to resolve an issue—the less effort required, the better.
Open customer feedback, reviews, and complaint analyses are also included in the evaluation.
Why is customer satisfaction important?
High customer satisfaction…
- strengthens customer loyalty,
- increases word-of-mouth recommendations,
- reduces customer churn,
- improves employee motivation (in customer contact),
- and increases long-term sales and brand value.
Satisfied customers buy more often, stay longer, and are less price-sensitive.
How can I improve customer satisfaction?
- Practice customer centricity: Understand customer needs and put them first.
- Obtain and utilize feedback: Systematically evaluate surveys, reviews, and complaints.
- Employee training: Especially in customer service—train employees in friendliness, empathy, and solution orientation.
- Shorten response times: Provide fast and reliable help with questions or problems.
- Ensure quality: Regularly check and optimize both product and service quality.
What questions are suitable for a customer satisfaction survey?
Here are some tried-and-tested questions:
- “How satisfied are you overall with our product/service?” (scale 1–5)
- “What did you particularly like?” (open question)
- “What can we improve?” (open-ended question)
- “How likely are you to recommend us to others?” (NPS)
- “How easy was it to resolve your issue with us?” (CES)
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What key figures are used to measure customer satisfaction?
- CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) – Average satisfaction rating (e.g., 4.2/5).
- NPS (Net Promoter Score) – Difference between promoters (rating 9–10) and detractors (0–6).
- CES (Customer Effort Score) – Average effort a customer experiences during an interaction.
- Churn rate – Percentage of customers who leave (indirect measure of satisfaction).
- Repurchase rate – How many customers make repeat purchases.
What are the disadvantages of customer satisfaction surveys?
- Response bias: Only particularly dissatisfied or particularly satisfied customers respond.
- Measurement inaccuracy: Satisfaction is subjective and can be influenced by how someone is feeling or their mood on a given day.
- Incomplete feedback: Many customers do not complete surveys, which leads to bias.
- Over-surveying: Too many surveys can annoy customers and reduce their willingness to participate.
What distinguishes customer satisfaction from customer loyalty?
- Customer satisfaction is short-term—it refers to a single experience.
- Customer loyalty is long-term—it describes lasting commitment, trust, and willingness to repeat purchases or make recommendations.
A satisfied customer is not automatically a loyal customer—loyalty also depends on brand loyalty, trust, and experiences.
What is the Kano model?
The Kano model distinguishes between three types of product characteristics:
- Basic factors: These are expected (e.g., a product’s function) – their absence leads to dissatisfaction.
- Performance factors: The better they are fulfilled, the more satisfied the customer is (e.g., speed).
- Delight factors: Unexpected extras that have a strong positive effect (e.g., surprise gift).
The model helps to manage customer expectations in a targeted manner and generate enthusiasm.
What is the Servqual model?
The Servqual model is a tool for measuring service quality.
It is based on five dimensions:
- Reliability – Does the provider deliver what they promise?
- Empathy – How personal and understanding is the service?
- Responsiveness – How quickly and helpfully do they respond?
- Assurance – Does the provider convey trust and competence?
- Tangibles – How professional is their appearance? (e.g., premises, website)
Servqual compares customer expectations with perceived performance in these areas.
More about Customer Satisfaction
- Everything you need to know about customer satisfaction
- 8 methods for analyzing customer satisfaction
- How to prioritize customer satisfaction measures
- 8 (atypical) measures to improve customer satisfaction
- Proving customer satisfaction with key performance indicators
- 8 reasons why increasing customer satisfaction doesn’t work!
- How you can measure the level of customer satisfaction
- Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: correlation and differences
- Example structure of a customer satisfaction survey: structure for valuable insights
- Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention: success factors for sustainable growth
