Short answer
A CSAT survey asks customers one question right after a support conversation, usually "How satisfied were you with the help you received?" on a 1 to 5 scale. Your CSAT score is the share of answers that are 4 or 5.- Core question
- One rating of the conversation, asked right after it closes.
- Scale
- 1 to 5 stars or faces; 4 and 5 count as satisfied.
- When
- Right after the conversation closes, in the same channel.
- Length
- One rating question plus an optional comment box.
- Formula
- Satisfied answers divided by all answers, times 100.
CSAT surveys work because they are short and immediate. The customer has just finished a conversation, so the answer is about that conversation, not about the brand in general.
The core question
Ask one rating question, right away, about the help itself.
- "How satisfied were you with the help you received today?"
- "How would you rate your conversation with our team?"
- "Did we solve your problem today?" (yes or no, for a resolution check)
- "How easy was it to get the help you needed?" (this measures effort, also called CES)
Use a 1 to 5 scale with labels at both ends, such as "Very dissatisfied" and "Very satisfied", or five stars. Keep the scale and the wording the same over time, or the trend stops meaning anything.
20 follow-up questions
Add one of these after the rating, ideally only for customers who rated 1 to 3, or for a sample.
About the outcome:
- Was your issue fully resolved?
- What could we have done to solve it faster?
- Did you need to contact us more than once about this?
- Is there anything still left to sort out?
- What were you hoping we would do?
About the person or agent who helped:
- Did the reply answer your actual question?
- Was the answer clear and easy to follow?
- Did you feel listened to?
- Was the tone right for your situation?
- Did you get the information you needed without asking twice?
About speed and effort:
- How long did you wait for a first reply?
- Was the wait reasonable for your request?
- Did you have to repeat information you had already given?
- How easy was it to reach us?
- Which channel would you have preferred: chat, email or phone?
About the experience overall:
- What is one thing we should change?
- What did we do well?
- Would you contact us the same way next time?
- How likely are you to buy from us again?
- Anything else you'd like to tell us?
When and how to send it
Send the survey while the conversation is still fresh, in the channel the customer used.
- Chat: show the rating in the chat window the moment the conversation ends.
- Email: add a one-click rating to the closing reply, or send a separate email within a few hours.
- Skip surveys on spam, auto-replies and conversations the customer never joined.
- Don't survey the same customer more than once a week.
How to calculate CSAT
CSAT score = satisfied answers ÷ all answers × 100, where satisfied means 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale. The free CSAT calculator does the sum from your counts.
| Week | Answers | Rated 4 or 5 | CSAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 200 | 168 | 84% |
| Week 2 | 150 | 117 | 78% |
| Week 3 | 40 | 36 | 90% |
Week 3 looks best but rests on only 40 answers, so it can swing with a handful of ratings. Report the number of answers next to the score, and read CSAT as a trend rather than week by week.
CSAT when AI answers part of the queue
Once an AI agent answers some conversations, one blended CSAT score hides which side is doing well.
In Aide, Aide Chat asks for a 1 to 5 star rating after a conversation, and Aide Analytics shows CSAT for the Aide AI Agent and for your team separately, with the rating spread, the trend and the latest comments. The headline appears once there are 30 responses, so a few early ratings don't set the story.