CSAT vs. NPS: Key metrics for measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty

If you don't understand your customers' opinions, running your business becomes a guessing game. Two of the most popular metrics for measuring customer loyalty for your brand and satisfaction with your services or products are CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) and NPS (Net Promoter Score).

CSAT and NPS both help businesses gauge how customers feel and understand how they can improve customer sentiment toward their brands, even though they measure different aspects of the customer experience and are used in different ways.

In this article, we'll break down what CSAT and NPS are, highlight their similarities and differences, and explain when and how to use each metric to its full potential. 

You'll also learn practical tips for designing effective CSAT and NPS surveys that help to improve customer service and business results.

What are CSAT and NPS?

CSAT and NPS are both popular survey-driven metrics that businesses use to assess customer experience; however, they focus on different aspects of satisfaction and loyalty.

What is CSAT?

Customer Satisfaction Score indicates how satisfied customers are with your specific business interaction, product, or service. After a customer support request or product purchase, companies often send customers a CSAT survey to gain insight into how well the interaction met their expectations. To measure CSAT, respondents rate their experience on a scale, such as a Likert scale.

CSAT is typically used to get immediate feedback. It helps businesses identify weaknesses in particular touchpoints and correct them to improve their customer experience. 

According to research by Gartner, CSAT remains among the top metrics used by customer service and support leaders, alongside NPS and operational KPIs, like average handle time. 

What is NPS?

Net Promoter Score measures customer loyalty. You can ask NPS questions such as: "How likely are you to recommend this product or service to a friend/colleague?" 

Customers answer on a 0–10 scale, and they're grouped into three categories based on their answers.

• Promoters (9–10/10) – they're loyal enthusiasts
• Passives (7–8/10) – satisfied but unenthusiastic customers
• Detractors (0–6/10) – unhappy customers 

eNPS: Employee Net Promoter Score

eNPS is a metric that gauges how likely employees are to recommend your organization as a workplace. An eNPS score helps businesses understand internal satisfaction, engagement, and areas for improvement.

Example: "How likely is it that you'd recommend working here?" 

Employees respond on a 0–10 scale, and, like customers in NPS surveys, they fall into three groups, depending on their answers. 

CSAT and NPS similarities: Where the confusion comes from

It can be difficult to choose between CSAT and NPS because both metrics provide insights into the customer experience. 

However, when comparing NPS vs. CSAT, the key difference is that CSAT measures immediate satisfaction after a customer buys a product, orders a service, or makes any other specific interaction. Net Promoter Score, meanwhile, measures long-term loyalty and the probability that a client will recommend your brand.

So, which one should you use? The truth is, using both metrics together provides a more complete view of the customer experience. 

For example, a company may use CSAT surveys after support interactions to identify operational issues, and also use NPS surveys periodically to track overall customer loyalty and brand advocacy.

Discover how your brand can collect CSAT and NPS data effortlessly to drive smarter marketing, sales, and product decisions with Checkbos. Request a Checkbox demo today.

How to know when to use CSAT or NPS

Both CSAT and NPS are valuable metrics to get insights from customers, but they serve different purposes.

When to use Customer Satisfaction Score

Customer Satisfaction Score is best used to obtain immediate feedback from customers after specific interactions, such as support calls, live chats, product purchases, or service use.

Here are some reasons to use CSAT:

• It helps to measure customer satisfaction right after a specific experience in the customer journey
• It helps to identify operational issues/areas for quick improvement
• It allows you to notice short-term changes in customer attitude and sentiment

CSAT surveys provide you with actionable, real-time data that helps your team solve problems, improve operational processes, and ensure customer expectations are met. 

But how can businesses collect and manage customer feedback efficiently at scale? With the help of a market research platform, teams can streamline survey deployment, automate data collection, and easily track trends over time.

When to use Net Promoter Score

This metric is ideal for long-term customer loyalty and advocacy tracking. Here are some key reasons to use Net Promoter Score:

• You can understand overall satisfaction and the likelihood to recommend your brand
• You identify promoters: enthusiasts who can advocate for your company
• You detect detractors who may churn or provide negative feedback
• Knowing NPS, you can guide strategic decisions for product development, sales, marketing, and retention

NPS surveys are not designed to provide immediate operational fixes like CSAT surveys; instead providing strategic insights that inform long-term planning and customer relationship management.

Calculating CSAT and NPS: Formulas and examples

In this section, we consider how to calculate Customer Satisfaction Score and Net Promoter Score, followed by benchmarks across different industries and sectors.

Measuring CSAT

Customer Satisfaction Score is calculated using this formula:

CSAT (%) = (Number of satisfied customers / Total respondents) × 100

Example: If 80 out of 100 respondents rate their experience as 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale, this means your CSAT score is 80%.

CSAT surveys typically include the following questions:

• "How satisfied are you with your recent support experience?"
• "How would you rate your experience with our service?"

Asking the same well-structured questions every time ensures your results are reliable and comparable over time. Using CSAT survey templates allows you to collect consistent data, benchmark performance across teams/periods, and take immediate action on operational improvements.

Measuring NPS

We can calculate Net Promoter Score by categorizing respondents based on their likelihood to recommend your brand and subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters:

NPS = % Promoters − % Detractors

To measure Net Promoter Score in practice, companies typically follow a standardized flow:

• Ask the question: "How likely are you to recommend our organization?" (0–10 scale)
• Group respondents as promoters/passives/detractors
• Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters

Example: If 57% are promoters and 18% are detractors, your Net Promoter Score is 39.

CSAT and NPS industry benchmarks

Here's how Customer Satisfaction Score and Net Promoter Score typically perform across industries and business sectors. This table will help you understand how your results compare to the market.

E‑commerce

• CSAT benchmark 2025: 80–90%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 40–60+ 

SaaS/Software

• CSAT benchmark 2025: 78–88%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 40–60+ 

Financial services

• CSAT benchmark 2025: 72–82%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 35–50

Telecommunications

• CSAT benchmark 2025: 65–75%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 30–45

Healthcare

• CSAT benchmark 2025: 75–85%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 35–50

Hospitality/Hotels

• CSAT benchmark 2025: Around 82%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 40–55

Insurance

• CSAT benchmark 2025: Around 70%
• NPS benchmark 2025: 30–45

NPS score vs. CSAT: Benefits and limitations

Both NPS and CSAT provide meaningful insights, but have different strengths and limitations. When you understand their pros and cons, you can decide how and when to use each metric effectively.

CSAT pros and cons

NPS pros and cons

CSAT is ideal for operational improvements and monitoring immediate customer reactions. Net Promoter Score is better suited for strategic insights and tracking long-term loyalty trends. Using both together provides a holistic view of customer experience, allowing businesses to act on both day-to-day improvements and long-term strategies.

How to design effective NPS and CSAT surveys

Designing effective customer surveys is key to gathering meaningful audience insights. CSAT and NPS surveys serve different purposes, so it's important to tailor questions, frequency, and data collection methods to match your goals.

CSAT surveys

Focus: Immediate sentiment toward a specific interaction, product, or service.

Common questions and types

• Rating questions: "How satisfied were you with your recent purchase/support experience?" (0–5 or 0–10 scale, or Likert scale from "Very satisfied" to "Very unsatisfied")
• Yes/No questions: "Did our service meet your expectations?"
• Optional open-ended questions for qualitative feedback: "What could we improve?"
  

Frequency: Sent after main touchpoints: support calls, product delivery, checkout, etc.

Data obtained

• Customer satisfaction levels per interaction
• Specific pain points in service or product experience
  

How businesses can use CSAT surveys

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys, companies can track short-term trends in satisfaction levels, identify operational issues, and quickly resolve them. Additionally, companies can train staff or improve internal processes based on direct feedback.

NPS surveys

Focus: Long-term customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend.

Common questions & types

• Rating questions: "How likely are you to recommend our organization to a friend/colleague?" (0–10 scale)
• Optional open-ended follow-ups: "What's the main reason for your score?"

Frequency: Periodically (quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) to measure loyalty trends and patterns.

Data acquired

• Overall loyalty and brand advocacy
• Identification of promoters, detractors
• Core drivers of customer sentiment and potential churn risk

How companies use NPS

By measuring Net Promoter Score with surveys, companies gain a clear indicator of customer advocacy and overall loyalty. This allows businesses to develop strategies for retention and growth, identify brand advocates for marketing or referral programs, and guide product development and service improvements.

A global Forrester study found that Net Promoter Score in 2025 declined for the majority of brand categories worldwide, in 20 out of 39 industries analyzed. 

​​This trend reflects rising customer expectations and underscores the importance of not just tracking the score but understanding the underlying reasons behind it so you can take meaningful action.

How to make NPS and CSAT surveys more effective 

If you want to build effective customer surveys that drive meaningful customer feedback and make it simple for customers to respond, follow these tips. 

Keep questions short, clear, and simple

Customers will be more receptive when the survey is short and understandable. To conduct an NPS survey, keep it brief by asking standard questions: "How likely are you to recommend our firm or our product to a friend or colleague?" Use the standard scale from 0 to 10.

To conduct a CSAT survey, include concise CSAT questions: "How satisfied are you with your experience today?"

Ensure your customer surveys are mobile-friendly

Many of your customers will be accessing your survey using their mobile devices, such as phones and tablets. Therefore, your survey should have a responsive design for any mobile device screen. Also, avoid scrolling or typing. Your customers will find it easier to respond using buttons, sliders, or star options compared to typing.

Add an optional open-text field for detailed feedback

Although having scores is helpful, having context is necessary. Include an open-ended text field in which customers are able to provide a description of their ratings or share more detailed feedback.

Questions such as "What could we do to improve?" or "Please provide any additional feedback" are helpful because, based on answers, you can identify some meaningful patterns.

Analyze responses promptly to act on insights quickly

Data is only useful if it's acted upon. Create alerts for low ratings or critical reviews so your teams can quickly respond to dissatisfied customers. The results can then be shared with relevant departments, such as sales or the tech department. Notify customers about improvements to show them that their opinions and ideas matter.

Segment and personalize (optional)

To get more accurate information, break down the data by type of customer, geographic area, or product category. Tailored follow-up communications, whether expressing gratitude to advocates or responding to complainants, can improve the overall customer experience. 

It's also essential that the frequency of the survey is reasonable. Keep in mind that surveying your customers too often might end up overwhelming them. The best time to conduct a CSAT survey is when customers have an interaction with your company. 

CSAT vs. NPS vs. CES: What is a customer effort score?

While CSAT and NPS focus on satisfaction and loyalty, another important metric is CES (Customer Effort Score). 

In a CSAT vs. NPS vs. CES comparison, CES measures the effort customers need to complete a task, such as resolving an issue, making a purchase, or finding required information.

The table below highlights the main differences, examples of Voice of the Customer questions, and use cases for each metric, helping you understand the differences.

Like CSAT surveys, CES questions are usually sent to customers after an interaction, specifically with the product.

Here's a common CES question: "How easy was it to resolve your issue?"

This question helps businesses identify customer pain points, reduce effort, and improve processes.

CES: Measure effort to improve customer loyalty

When a customer puts too much effort into completing an action, it leads to frustration, even if their satisfaction level is high. Measuring Customer Effort Score helps businesses optimize processes, enhance service efficiency, and proactively remove obstacles in the customer journey.

By using CES alongside Net Promoter Score and Customer Satisfaction Score, you get a complete picture of the customer experience. You'll improve satisfaction, loyalty, and ease of interaction.

Modern Voice of the Customer software platforms like Checkbox enable companies to gather and analyze CSAT, NPS, and CES data in one place, which helps teams turn insights into actionable improvements across marketing, sales, and service departments.

Final thoughts

CSAT and NPS will definitely help you understand your customers. However, the real value of these metrics comes from knowing when to use each metric and how to act on the results.

Comparing the use cases of a CSAT score vs. an NPS score, CSAT is best suited to measure immediate customer satisfaction right after specific interactions with your business. With CSAT, you can quickly identify operational issues, enhance processes, and resolve customer pain points.

Use Net Promoter Score periodically to measure long-term loyalty for your brand. This metric helps you identify your dedicated promoters and detect potential churn, and make informed strategic decisions for marketing, sales, and product development.

You might be wondering: Is it possible to combine NPS and CSAT? Sure thing! You can use both metrics together to get a complete picture of the customer journey.

Checkbox offers a comprehensive feedback management platform and helps businesses collect, analyze, and act on CSAT, NPS, and other survey data. This software supports both customer and enterprise feedback management, offers customized templates for surveys, provides powerful analytics, and protects your data. Request a Checkbox demo to explore the full potential of this platform for your business.

NPS vs. CSAT FAQs