SME News Q3 2026/ 38 threesixfive: Powered by People, Trusted by Brands threesixfive provides highly personalised community management, review management, sentiment management, live chat, and social media services for some of the UK’s most well-known brands. Its team works behind the profiles of leading restaurants, hotels, eCommerce brands, and other businesses seeking a trusted partner who can successfully manage their reputation across social media. As threesixfive is named in the Business Elite Awards 2026, we heard more from Group Operations Manager Laura Tomlin. “As automation has become the default, being human has become the differentiator.” Since its inception in 2019, threesixfive has been on a mission to keep real people at the centre of online conversation and customer service. This mission began long before the introduction of chatbots, driven by the real frustration that many of us have felt from messaging a brand on social media and hearing nothing back, or something so clearly scripted that silence would have been preferred. Deciding to build something different and truly human, threesixfive initially began by solving the issues of social media responses. “We looked at that and thought someone should step in,” Laura recalled. “There was clearly a gap between how brands thought they were showing up online and how it actually felt to be on the other side of it. So, we built something to close it.” Over time, the team shifted gears to tackle the bot responses. It recognised that the instrumental role automation has played in ruining the genuine connection fans seek from their favourite brands, understanding that robotic responses were actively disconnecting brands from their audiences. threesixfive asserts that it is essential for every brand to build their own community, and this can only be done through human connection. Community management has been threesixfive’s bread and butter for over a decade. This service goes beyond the realm of simply replying to comments, requiring the team to manage a brand’s entire community through every channel, 365 days a year. From early morning messages and after-work scrolling to a complaint landing at 9pm on a Sunday, the threesixfive team monitors every element of its client brands’ communities. “What clients gain is a team that handles the tricky stuff properly,” Laura told us. “Complaints, crises, the moments that need calm rather than panic. Everything runs through their existing processes in their tone of voice, so it never reads as scripted or off brand. And we’re always looking for the opposite too: the small opportunities to turn an ordinary interaction into something that leaves someone feeling better about the brand than when they arrived.” threesixfive’s live chat offering is the natural extension of this service. While many brands leave their customers navigating an outdated FAQ page for answers, clients of threesixfive have a real person placed on their website at the exact moment a user is deciding whether to make a purchase. Within an average of 12 seconds, customers are engaged in an authentic conversation with a real person that actually goes somewhere, with questions answered and problems solved. The greatest piece of advice that threesixfive can give businesses operating within this space is to “read the response back as if you are the person receiving it.” A reply can be accurate, on brand, and ticked off against the correct processes, and it can still land badly because no member of the team paused to consider how the message would be read by the client at 9pm, when they are already annoyed and their delivery has not arrived. “We build that into everything,” Laura explained. “Our agents aren’t measured purely on volume or speed; they’re expected to read, think, and respond properly. Sometimes that means a quick reassurance. Sometimes it means knowing when not to say too much. Experience teaches you the difference. It’s also why we’ve never handed the writing over to automation. A machine can produce a technically correct reply; it cannot put itself into someone’s shoes.” This ethos has remained at the very heart of threesixfive’s work for several years and will continue to drive the team forward in the years to come. Every review, every response, and every piece of insight has been conceptualised, written, and developed by a real person, and this unique sense of warmth, authenticity, and personality has earned the trust of countless brands across the UK. For its exceptional ongoing advocation for human-powered customer experience threesixfive has truly earned its status as the Best Social Media and Community Management Company 2026. Contact: Laura Tomlin Company: threesixfive Pro Ltd Web Address: www.threesixfive.co.uk
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