How to measure Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) in your mobile app

Knowing that the average American spends around 3 hours and 45 minutes a day on their phone, it’s probably safe to say that we can no longer go without our mobile phones. So what are we doing for nearly 4 hours every day on our mobile phones? On top of calling, texting, and social media, nearly two-thirds of mobile users are busy making online purchases. In fact (Ahem! Listen up retailers…), around six in every ten shoppers claim that ‘being able to purchase products on mobile devices is a key factor when it comes to choosing brands or retailers to buy from’.

Spending so much time on our mobile devices means that the app market is inevitably changing; a trend which will certainly put some pressure on online retailers to keep their mobile app users satisfied.

In this article, we will explain how you can measure customer satisfaction within your mobile app. In addition to sharing a number of useful and practical tips, we will also point out the biggest pitfalls with you. Hopefully after reading this article you’ll have enough inspiration to get started yourself.

There are several ways to find out what customers think of your app and how they experience it. Is your app user-friendly? Can you easily get information or place an order? By listening carefully to your customers, you can optimise your mobile app(s) to meet the wishes and needs of your customers.

Why measure the customer satisfaction (CSAT) in your mobile app?

With so many competitors in the market, it’s important to retain your customers and avoid churn. By knowing what your customers want and meeting these needs, you can increase their loyalty towards your brand and thereby attract many new customers in the same way.

With customers as your ambassadors, you have an edge over your competitors. Why? Your customers are increasingly being influenced by the opinions of other customers. For example, they often check reviews before making a decision about purchasing from a certain brand. It is therefore very important to gain insight into the customer satisfaction of your users on your mobile app. These insights will help you better understand what your customers are facing.

There are several different ways to measure customer satisfaction with your mobile app. Below, we’ve listed the four most commonly used methods.

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How do you collect feedback on CSAT in your mobile app?

• By sending email surveys: Send your customers a survey form by email, containing specific questions for measuring customer satisfaction.
• Use a post-service survey: Immediately after the customer has used your service, you can ask – during a live chat or by means of an email with a link to an assessment form – what the customer thought of the service.
• Use a customer feedback tool: his popular method of collecting feedback offers the possibility to collect in-app feedback and therefore has the highest response rate. While the customer is using the app, he / she can immediately leave feedback using little time and effort.
  Click here for an overview of the Top 11 Best Mobile In-App Feedback Tools.
• Collect app store reviews: sers often view the reviews of an app before downloading it. Have your app rated by the users with star ratings and/or a written review.

*For the sake of this article, we will focus on the most popular method: in-app feedback.

Are you unfamiliar with in-app feedback or just starting out with an in-app feedback solution like Mopinion? Let us help your business start off on the right foot. There are many different features and possibilities with in-app feedback that we can share. In fact, Mopinion has helped hundreds of customers with onboarding and successfully collecting and analysing their in-app feedback and we are happy to share these experiences with you. That is why we’ve gathered several ‘best practices’. These tips will help you achieve your mobile goals and most importantly help you gain insight into the customer satisfaction of your mobile app.

Most common mistakes made when collecting feedback in a mobile app

• Confusing when you should use active and passive feedback: Typically we see that organisations leverage the wrong type of feedback (i.e. passive feedback and active feedback) for the wrong goal. Passive feedback is collected by placing a feedback button or option in the app navigation. For example: “Help us improve” or “Tell us what you think”. The customer decides whether
  he / she completes the form and when. While these feedback buttons are always visible and available to users, you can also place them in the navigation menu, so that they are not too ‘invasive’.
  
  However, if you want to know why the customer doesn’t complete a certain action – for example he/she does not complete an order process – then it’s best to use active feedback forms. These forms appear based on predefined triggers.
• Asking for feedback at the wrong time: Timing is crucial. After all, you want to ‘bother’ the customer as little as possible. So if you want to know if your customer has achieved his / her goal, make sure the feedback form appears at the end of the funnel.
• Asking the wrong questions: Read your written questions carefully and have someone else look at them. Are the questions clear? Is the structure of the questions logical? Are your questions specific enough? If the questions are not clear or too general, you will not receive relevant answers. Additionally, the order of the questions also plays a major role. If you jump from one subject to another, you will not achieve the desired results. Make sure that follow-up questions dynamically relate to previously given answers. For example, after a low CSAT score, ask the person why they are not satisfied with the app.
• Asking for information you already know: For example, if you already know that a user belongs to a certain customer or product group, send that data along with the feedback and do not request it separately. And of course, take privacy rules into account.
• Asking too many questions: Everyone knows that the attention span of your customers and the users of your app is getting shorter and shorter. So make sure to ask specific questions and keep it short. You cannot achieve multiple goals with just one feedback form. Ask a maximum of 4-5 questions per feedback form and don’t forget to thank you customers for their cooperation.
• Too many different measurements for one goal: If your goal is to measure Net Promoter Score (NPS), be consistent with how this is measured across your app. For example, don’t use stars and smileys for one goal. Stick to one way of measuring this goal.

If you want to learn more about asking the right questions in an in-app survey be sure to check out this article.

Now that you know which pitfalls not to fall into, you can start measuring the customer satisfaction (CSAT) of your mobile app effectively and efficiently. We do this by going through various steps, from collecting feedback all the way up to closing the ‘feedback loop’, so that you have continuous control over the process. To illustrate how this is done in practice, we will explain how you can work with a tool such as Mopinion for Apps.

5 Steps for Measuring Customer Satisfaction in your mobile app

1. Design your own customer satisfaction survey

When you start with a customer satisfaction survey, it is important to focus on one metric. Choose the metric that fits your objective.

NPS (Net Promoter Score): Ask a specific question to find out which of your customers is recommending you and who is not. Example, “How likely is it (on a scale of zero to ten) that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

CES (Customer Effort Score): With CES you can zoom in on one specific
service or process. If you want to improve a specific funnel, then this is the right metric. CES gives you insight into how easy it was to achieve their goal. The customer enters a number from 0-5, 5 being very difficult. Example: “How much effort did it take for you personally to file a complaint?”



CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): This is a classic method to measure customer satisfaction and how the user experiences the app in general. Using number scales or the smiley system are great ways to measure this metric. Example: “How satisfied are you with this service?”

Note: the metrics aren’t your only concern. If you want to create a successful survey form, think carefully about the follow-up questions you want to ask. After all, you are looking for WHY users think something is good or bad. You can make it easy on your users by giving them a selection of options or categories. For example, ask the user how their feedback should be categorised, using a drop-down list where they can choose from different categories such as: a bug, a suggestion, or a complaint. This way you get a targeted answer to your question and it is easier to analyse the feedback.

Read more about chosing the right feedback metric in this article and don’t forget to check this blog post about how to collect in-app feedback.

Need some inspiration with your feedback forms? Check out our Survey Marketplace.

2. Choose the right moment

Make sure you disturb the customer as little as possible, while you inquire as to why he / she makes certain choices. If someone threatens not to complete an order, then that is the perfect time to ask them why. Simultaneously, you can give users the option to leave feedback about the overall usability by means of a passive feedback button.

And of course, don’t forget to take advantage of asking the customer what he / she thought of the ordering process on the Thank You page. Bottom line: there are many different contact moments with your customers that you can use to get to know them better.

3. Create your personal dashboard

In a dashboard you can visualise your feedback results using different charts. For example, with the Mopinion platform you can create a chart for each of your goals. With a real-time dashboard you won’t miss anything and will be able to identify noticeable trends and issues taking place within your mobile app.

4. Analyse the feedback

Now that you have visually mapped your feedback, you’ll likely also want to go even deeper into the details. In the Mopinion inbox you can, for example, view specific feedback items and filter on certain keywords to gain more insight into certain topics. Additionally, through text analysis you can immediately see which items belong to the same category, saving you a lot of time as you’re diving into large amounts of data.

5. Follow up on feedback and manage actions

Now that you know which issues your users encounter in your app, what prevents them from completing a goal, and/or why they are leaving the app, it is time to overcome these obstacles. To do this effectively, you will likely need to enlist the help of your colleagues from other departments and teams. In fact, internal communication is a critical part of your feedback program’s success. Many feedback software enable you to automatically send feedback to the right departments so that items can be quickly resolved, optimising the level of customer satisfaction within your app.

Ready to start measuring the Customer Satisfaction in your mobile app?

By now you should have gained a good idea of what is involved in measuring customer satisfaction within your mobile app. Want more information on this topic? Be sure to check out this paper about collecting and analysing in-app customer feedback.

Keep in mind that measuring customer satisfaction in your mobile app takes practice and time. There may be instances where you have to adjust the questions, structure or timing of your feedback forms because either your customers interpret the question differently, or you discover that the form is not being shown at the right moment and you’re missing out on some interesting insights. And that’s okay. Collecting in-app feedback is a continuous process and if you remember that, you’ll be on the right track towards gathering meaningful insights.