What is customer satisfaction? Definition + importance

The Cambridge Dictionary defines customer satisfaction as a measure of how happy customers feel when they do business with a company. The important thing to remember though is that this doesn’t just refer to the moment they buy your product or service, but rather every touchpoint in the customer journey.

Whether or not a customer is satisfied will depend on all of their interactions and experiences with your business—that means before, during, and after the sale. With this in mind, let’s find out how you can provide positive experiences for your customers over the entire course of their relationship with your brand.

More in this guide:

• What does it take to satisfy the customer?
• Why is customer satisfaction important?
• How to measure customer satisfaction
• How to improve customer satisfaction
• Customer satisfaction examples
• Frequently asked questions
• Improve customer satisfaction with Zendesk

What does it take to satisfy the customer?

As described in the Simon & Garfunkel song ‘Keep the Customer Satisfied’, making sure your customers are happy can be exhausting. But by focusing on a few key factors, you can create a positive and lasting impression that keeps your customers coming back for more. Let’s go over them now.

Listen and act

The first step to satisfying your customers is to listen to their needs—after all, this will help you understand exactly what your products or services need to do to meet their expectations. Plus, it helps you anticipate their future needs.

But listening alone isn’t enough. The key is to make sure you act on whatever you find out. For instance, if customers are saying it takes too long to get help with an issue, try implementing self-service options, deploying an AI chatbot, or simply hiring more staff.

Personalise the experience

Not all customers are the same and they don’t all react in the same way to the same messages and offers. Loyal customers expect personalised treatment. When this doesn’t materialise, they might lose interest or even switch to a competitor.

Start by collecting and analysing data to make sure you’re sending the right message at the right time. You can take things further by segmenting your customers based on factors like their position in the customer journey. But remember, the aim is to make each customer feel unique.

Meet changing customer needs

Customer needs and expectations are always changing. With the advent of AI, consumer expectations for lightning-fast responses are higher than ever. Our Zendesk Customer Experience Trends 2024 Report found that 51 per cent of customers now prefer to interact with a bot than a human when it’s speed they’re after.

In other words, customers value quick interactions and want to be free to decide how they get help. On top of chatbots to speed up your response times, you can also implement self-service solutions like an FAQ page and knowledge bases to allow customers to find answers on their own.

Create a customer-centric culture

Satisfying customers should be at the centre of almost everything you do—from your overall customer experience strategy to individual conversations. Putting customers first means removing common frustrations like long wait times, complicated processes, and poor communication so you can deliver top-quality support time and time again.

But don’t forget about your employees. Happy employees who identify with your company’s values will work harder to satisfy your customers, so making sure your employee experience is up to scratch is essential to improving your customer experience (CX).

Why is customer satisfaction important?

Customer satisfaction is important because it reveals whether your customer base likes what you’re doing. Research has shown that high satisfaction leads to greater customer retention and higher lifetime value, taking your brand higher and boosting your reputation.

Low customer satisfaction scores are important, too. They can reveal customer pain points and provide data-backed insights on how to improve your product, service, and overall customer experience.

Drives customer loyalty

Customer satisfaction drives loyalty by building trust, emotional connections, and a sense of reliability. But customers will only stick around if they receive the right kind of support. In fact, according to the CX Trends 2023 report, 57 per cent of consumers say good customer service is a factor in their brand loyalty. In short, satisfied customers are loyal customers.

Encourages repeat purchases

Happy customers are more likely to trust your brand. This means they’re less likely to switch to competitors, which naturally translates into repeat business. Research from Deloitte found that 88 per cent of customers who trust a brand will buy from them again.

Increases customer lifetime value

Satisfied customers aren’t just loyal—they’re also willing to spend more. According to CX Trends 2023, over 90 per cent of consumers will spend more with companies that offer great customer experiences. In short, focusing on customer satisfaction not only helps you retain customers, but also increases their lifetime value.

Boosts customer acquisition

Providing great customer experiences to existing customers is also a great way to attract new ones. That’s because satisfied customers are much more likely to recommend you to others. Brand advocates are worth their weight in gold as 90 per cent of people are more likely to buy from a brand recommended by a friend, according to Viral Loops.

Enhances your brand reputation

Happy customers are your best marketers. They’re more likely to talk positively about your business—both online and offline. This word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly powerful, especially in the age of social media where 83 per cent of people in the UK now use these platforms to share their experiences.

Provides a competitive advantage

Client satisfaction can help you stand out in a crowded market. When you have loyal customers and a great reputation, people are more likely to flock to your business. Even better, they’ll be more willing to pay a premium. It’s no surprise that the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) report found companies that perform above the sector average for satisfaction have around 10 per cent higher earnings.

Brings down costs

Satisfied customers tend to stay on board. That means lower churn rates, which in turn reduces the costs associated with acquiring new customers. Plus, research from the Harvard Business Review shows that acquiring new customers is anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining them. So keeping them coming back for more is the name of the game.

Helps assess team performance

Customer satisfaction metrics can tell you a lot about how your teams are performing. For example, poor CSAT scores are often an indicator of slow response and resolution times. One Gallup survey found that businesses with engaged employees saw a 10 per cent increase in customer ratings. Making sure your teams are happy and engaged is therefore vital.

Offers valuable insights

Even when customer satisfaction scores are low, they provide valuable information. They can reveal customer pain points and offer data-backed insights on how to improve your product, service, and customer orientation. For example, feedback might indicate your your product is difficult to navigate, letting you know where to focus to quickly improve your user experience.

How to measure customer satisfaction

You can better understand your customers’ needs and grow your business simply by measuring customer satisfaction. That’s because it allows you to see what you’re doing right and where you can improve. Here’s how.

Customer satisfaction surveys

Although there are plenty of options out there to help you gauge client satisfaction, surveys are still the number one—and for good reason. They not only provide both quantitative and qualitative feedback, but also show your customers that their opinions matter.

When designing surveys, remember to ask questions that provide actionable insights. Don’t waste your customers’ time with unnecessary queries, like “How did you hear about us?” This question is great for marketing purposes but has almost no impact on customer satisfaction.

The best time to send out a customer satisfaction survey is just after they’ve completed an important stage in the customer journey. Try to survey customers as soon after the experience as possible, as people tend to forget how they felt over time.

3 key customer satisfaction metrics

There are three key types of customer satisfaction surveys which translate into three key customer satisfaction metrics:

1. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures how satisfied customers are with your product, services, or CX. You calculate CSAT by adding up all the scores and dividing by the number of respondents.
2. Customer Effort Score (CES) measures how easy it is for customers to use your products or services, find the information they need, or get issues resolved. Generally, the lower the effort, the more satisfied the customers.
3. Net Promoter Score® (NPS) measures how likely customers are to recommend your company to others. You calculate NPS by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

Analysing and acting on survey data

Once you’ve collected your data, don’t let it sit unused. Analyse the results to identify trends and patterns in client satisfaction. Use these insights to make data-driven decisions and implement improvements across your business.

Remember, measuring customer satisfaction isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about using that information to improve your customers’ experiences. If customers are complaining about reliability, it’s time for an update.

Customer service analytics

Analysing data from customer support interactions, such as response times, resolution rates, and repeat requests, can also help you get a better picture of customer satisfaction levels.

If you’re seeing an increase in tickets around a particular task, for example, that’s a sure sign that something needs fixing—and that it’s affecting how satisfied your customers are feeling.

How to improve customer satisfaction

The benefits of focusing on customer satisfaction are clear, but truly making customers happy can take some trial and error. The key is persistence. Always aim to go above and beyond for customers and lean on other departments to help boost your customer experience. Here are a few ways to start improving your customer satisfaction scores.

1. Become obsessed with customer feedback

Become a student of your customer feedback. Don’t just collect it—analyse it and apply it to what your customers are saying. Commit to learning about buyers’ pain points and then make a plan to alleviate them in ways that set you apart from competitors.

A CRM is a great way to assess your reviews. But even without one, you can still keep close tabs on customer feedback. Social media and online review boards are especially good places to monitor buyer attitudes.

Top tip: use customer feedback software. This tool includes analytics for agent performance and customer surveys, so you can study complaints and compliments about your business.

2. Meet customers where they are

Life doesn’t always follow a 9-to-5 schedule—questions and problems can pop up at any time. When customers know they can get support or answers whenever and wherever they need, it gives them peace of mind and makes them feel valued.

To do that, you need to have a digital presence on the platforms your customers are already using. It’s all about making it easy for buyers to reach out and ask support questions on their channels of choice.

Top tip: offering support via messaging apps (like WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook) helps businesses create a sense of 24-hour availability. These are the same channels customers use to interact with friends and family, so it gives you a chance to meet them where they already are.

3. Deliver fast responses

Customers have higher service standards now than ever before. In our constantly connected world, they don’t want to wait even a few hours for a response. However, our CX Trends 2024 report revealed that 62 per cent of CX leaders feel they’re behind in providing the more instant experiences consumers expect.

Fortunately, you can provide faster responses in a number of ways. For example, prewritten responses ensure agents don’t have to type out common answers over and over again. Plus, asynchronous messaging enables agents to help more customers at once because they can pause, and continue conversations as they like.

Top tip: communication is key. If a customer sends a request when your team isn’t available, they should get an auto-reply saying their message was received. It’s also a good idea to provide a rough response time, so the customer isn’t left wondering when someone might get back to them.

4. Leverage the power of AI

AI-driven tools can analyse customer data to predict needs and preferences, making it easy to tailor recommendations and provide proactive support. Sentiment analysis can also monitor customer feedback in real-time and identify pain points.

Plus, AI-powered bots can intercept would-be tickets when agents are off the clock and provide instant 24/7 customer service. Bots can also gather customer details upfront (such as city or account type) before an agent takes over.

Top tip: AI agents can handle both straightforward and complex queries across multiple channels. Whether it’s predefined answers, generative replies, or article suggestions, AI and automation tools make sure your customers feel like you’re there for them.

5. Make customer satisfaction a company-wide focus

If you’re serious about improving your client satisfaction, you have to put time and effort into a customer-centric business strategy. You can (and should) incorporate customer satisfaction into your company mission and value proposition.

That keeps it top-of-mind with every employee, regardless of their position. And when everyone is pulling in the same direction—and can see the impact of their work—they can make great things happen to your CSAT scores.

Top tip: make sure every department understands the impact of the customer experience on client satisfaction, and remember to share feedback across teams to create a company-wide commitment.

6. Invest in agent training

Supporting customers starts with supporting your people. Customer service agents are the beating heart of any customer service team, so investing in their knowledge and well-being creates the foundations you need to build winning customer satisfaction scores.

According to our CX Trends 2024 report, 65 per cent of agents say more training would help them do their job better. And agents doing their job better can only be a plus for customer satisfaction.

Top tip: build a mentorship programme for new employees, so they can learn from the best. And don’t forget to revamp your customer service training programme to see what you can improve or add.

7. Help customers help themselves

For basic queries, customers want to find answers themselves. Our CX Trends 2024 report found that self-service was in the top three preferred customer service channels for general issues—right up there with phone and email, and above live chat, social media, or in-person interactions.

That’s great news for your teams because more customers finding answers on their own means more time for agents to spend on those trickier requests. What’s more, customers are increasingly willing to turn to chatbots for simple problems. And more tickets solved by bots means even more time for agents.

Top tip: start by building a knowledge base. Ask employees to write helpful articles, guides, and FAQs. When you’ve got that all set up, you can try implementing an AI-powered chatbot to point customers to all these self-service resources.

8. Lead with empathy

Empathy helps build trust because when people feel heard and understood, they’re more likely to stick around and feel positive about their experience. It’s about treating customers like real people, not just transactions.

Support leaders can provide empathy training, but it’s also a good idea to hire people who already have this soft skill in the first place. Making a few minor adjustments to your hiring process can ultimately help you save on training in the future.

Top tip: you can also consider allowing agents to make exceptions to certain policies in situations that require customer empathy, such as waiving late fees for a loyal customer who has just lost a family member.

9. Personalise the customer experience

In our CX Trends 2023 report, 90 per cent of consumers said they’ll spend more with companies that personalise the customer service they offer them. What’s more, 68 per cent said they expect all experiences to be personalised.

Agents need access to customer information if you want them to improve customer experiences. When they can see the customer context—such as the previous issue the customer reached out about, how long they’ve been a customer, and what products they’ve purchased—agents can deliver more tailored support.

Top tip: match repeat customers with a dedicated support agent who can help them every time they reach out. This will ensure they’re fully up to speed, avoid any frustration, and strengthen their connection to your brand.

10. Provide proactive support

Reactive support is no longer enough. Waiting for your customers to contact you with a query or issue just won’t cut it. Customers now expect businesses to take a much more proactive approach.

That means anticipating issues and addressing them before your customers do. For example, you might let customers know about an upcoming transition or new resources being made available in the help centre.

Top tip: whenever customers do still get in touch, Agent copilot can save your agents’ time and improve consistency. Our AI-powered assistant understands the contents of tickets and makes suggestions to your agent on how to solve them.

11. Implement omnichannel customer service capabilities

Customers expect great service across all channels and they hate repeating themselves. The right messaging solution makes it easy to meet customers where they are for a personalised and seamless experience.

Instead of siloed chats that start and stop each time a customer reaches out or switches channels, every interaction becomes part of a larger, uninterrupted conversation across web, mobile, and social apps.

Top tip: give your agents the omnichannel tools they need to keep conversations flowing. That means having every interaction in one place as well as AI and automation tools to help with some of the heavy lifting like intelligent triage.

12. Carry out quality assurance reviews

Quality assurance reviews can help businesses better understand how their agents are interacting and what their customers are saying. Regular QA ultimately helps you address issues before they escalate, keeping your CX on track.

QA reviews are also great for insights into customer preferences and pain points. For example, AI tools can help you analyse customer sentiment, pick out the conversations that went astray, and identify churn risks.

Top tip: the right tools, like Zendesk QA, make it easy to review your conversations for valuable insights into how your teams are performing and where you can improve. It also helps boost employee retention by keeping them engaged and on their toes.

Customer satisfaction examples

Looking for inspiration? Here are some great examples of businesses with seriously satisfied customers.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot is a leading online platform for user-generated reviews, helping consumers make informed decisions. Headquartered in Denmark, it has grown rapidly, with over 17 million reviews in 15 languages.

Self-service success: Trustpilot implemented a smart help centre, which reduced incoming tickets by 35 per cent and improved overall efficiency.

Live chat integration: the company also introduced live chat, which cut inbound calls by 42 per cent and now allows agents to handle multiple queries at the same time.

Read more about Trustpilot + Zendesk.

MOO

MOO is a design and print company based in London, serving over 190 countries with customised, premium products like business cards and notebooks. Founded in 2006, MOO is known for its focus on design and exceptional customer service.

Unified support: the company switched to Zendesk for a complete customer view, helping agents route requests faster and improve service quality.

Cost savings and efficiency: MOO saved $222,000 per year by replacing outdated systems with Zendesk Talk and deploying self-service options that brought down response times and pushed up first-contact resolution rates.

Read more about MOO + Zendesk.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a leading platform for creating and managing websites with intuitive design tools and templates. Founded in 2003, it supports millions of customers around the world to establish their online presence.

Efficient self-service: the company created more than 900 help articles, allowing 95 per cent of customers to find answers without an agent.

Omnichannel support: Squarespace integrated email, live chat, and multilingual support, allowing customers to choose their preferred channel for help.

Read more about Squarespace + Zendesk.

Pet Lovers Centre

Founded in 1973, Pet Lovers Centre is one of Southeast Asia’s largest pet care retail chains, with over 150 outlets across the region. The company is dedicated to providing comprehensive pet care products and services.

Omnichannel integration: Pet Lovers Centre incorporated 10 customer touchpoints, including social media and mobile messaging, into Zendesk, improving accessibility and response times.

Automation and self-service: the company also implemented AI-driven solutions and a help centre, which significantly reduced manual workloads and improved resolution times.

Read more about Pet Lovers Centre + Zendesk.

Frequently asked questions

Improve customer satisfaction with Zendesk

Customer satisfaction is about far more than just putting a smile on your customers’ faces; it’s about consistently exceeding their expectations and building strong relationships that encourage repeat business.

But satisfying your customers not only requires the right customer service skills—it also requires the right software. Fortunately, Zendesk gives your teams everything they need to work at their best and satisfy your customers—fast.