AppExchange Review: Gauge by CS Toolkit — Effortless Customer Success Insights

Cynthia McDonald
creme de la crm
Published in
4 min readDec 22, 2023

Within the realm of Customer Success in Salesforce, numerous options exist for documenting interactions with Customers. However, there’s often a desire to quickly gauge a customer’s sentiment with just a glance at their record. Whether in Sales or Support, understanding whether a customer is satisfied or discontent is crucial. And that’s where Gauge comes into play! The app adds a visual gauge and tracks customer sentiment notes, offering an overview of all customers and their shared sentiments.

Every company strives to maintain happy customers who’ll continue to choose their services, but recurring issues (or multiple issues with the same client) can build to discontent, resentment, and attrition. There’s often a gap in effectively engaging customer issues when Support Representatives and Sales Team Members lack insight into previous engagements, especially when it makes customers feel like their past issues are being treated with indifference, poorly documented, or ignored.

Gauge addresses this challenge by consolidating data within the Salesforce. It provides an intuitive solution to record and gather all notes, enabling teams to proactively identify pain points before they become bottlenecks and identify areas for improvement. The app helps streamline interactions, ensuring that customer concerns are addressed more efficiently.

The AppExchange claims a 15-minute implementation time, but my experience suggests it might be even faster. Starting the timer as soon as the app finished downloading, I had Gauge seamlessly integrated into my Account and Contact pages on my Sales App in less than 3 minutes, despite not reading any directions. The download includes 1 custom app, 2 custom objects, and 2 custom tabs, allowing users to start utilizing the app immediately after download without having to add to a lightning page.

Gauge’s use is highly intuitive, requiring no code. Simply download and add it to your lightning page. While the app’s name suggests you may be limited in displaying only as a gauge and no other formats like bar or circle graphs, the streamlined design serves its purpose effectively.

Ease of Use: 8/10

The app’s functionality is intuitive, making it easy to integrate and navigate, although there’s room for improvement in enhancing certain aspects of user experience.

Quality of Support: 9/10

Gauge provides excellent support, reflecting in a high-quality user experience with responsive assistance when needed.

Ease of Setup: 9/10

The setup process is straightforward and efficient, contributing to a seamless user experience.

The cost of Gauge is $29 per month for the entire company, with no need for complex licensing management. Opting for an annual purchase provides a 15% discount at $295. Additionally, developers offer a 7-day trial for users to assess how seamlessly Gauge fits into their Salesforce organization.

Surprisingly I learned about the origin story of Gauge by CS Toolkit, by stumbling upon the details on Reddit. The founder shared their inspiring journey of quitting their job to develop a Salesforce App that addresses challenges faced by Customer Success teams. This motivation arose from struggles to adopt new software due to Salesforce limitations, despite its customizable features.

The founder underscores the significant time spent refining the product and navigating the AppExchange approval process, culminating in becoming an approved ISV partner and passing the security review. Their post encouraged readers to explore the AppExchange Listing and Product Demo, and provided insights into the app’s development journey and future plans. The founder’s dedication to addressing real-world problems and frustrations with existing software options is truly commendable.

In conclusion, Gauge by CS Toolkit proves to be a valuable asset in streamlining customer sentiment tracking within Salesforce. With an intuitive design and quick implementation, Gauge addresses the crucial need for efficient sentiment analysis. Despite minor details of customization, the app’s overall performance is praiseworthy. I would recommend Gauge for businesses seeking a seamless solution to monitor and enhance customer relationships. On a scale of 5, I would rate Gauge at approximately 4.5 stars, reflecting its effectiveness and potential for positively impacting customer success initiatives.

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