Been tracking CSAT for months but noticed users giving high scores still churn at similar rates.
Starting to wonder if these surveys capture what actually matters for retention. What metrics do you rely on instead?
CSAT is pretty much useless. Track daily active users instead.
High CSAT scores can be misleading because people often give good ratings even when they plan to leave.
I track how long users stay active after each app update and whether they actually use the core features. Those patterns tell me way more about who will stick around than any survey response.
Revenue per user tells the real story. Someone paying you monthly isn’t going anywhere, even if they complain in surveys. I watch upgrade rates and payment renewal timing more than any satisfaction score. Users vote with their wallets, not survey responses. Also track feature adoption depth. People using 3+ core features stick around. Those only touching surface features churn regardless of what they tell you in surveys.
CSAT seems basic. We focus on real usage data and how often users contact support.
I’ve seen this exact problem running campaigns for subscription apps. Users rate 4-5 stars then cancel two weeks later.
What actually predicted churn for us was engagement drop-off patterns. If someone used to open the app 5x per week but dropped to 2x, they were gone within a month regardless of their survey score.
Also started tracking time between key actions. When users took longer to complete their usual workflow, retention tanked even with good CSAT numbers.
Surveys lie because people don’t want to seem negative. Behavior data doesn’t.