“You are number 11 in the queue. Your call is important to us.” I’d be rich if I got a penny every time I had to contact customer support and listen to these automated messages! Customer support can make a difference in the bottom line -  whether your company is making money or losing money! As a newly hired customer success manager at SocioLocal, I wanted to dive deeper into what truly drives customer satisfaction and share a couple of practical tips on how you can save a penny when your customers contact you!

Why do happy customers matter?

It’s a rhetorical question, I know, but let’s look at it through numbers. You can have the best product in the world, but if your customer is not happy with the service they receive, they are willing (and quick) to jump ship! 80% of consumers think that the experience they have with the company is equally important to the product they are buying. In fact 90% of customers say they base brand loyalty on customer service. You don’t have too many chances to get it right with over half of the consumers switching over to the competition after only one bad experience. 

From a customer success point of view (I am naturally biased), I find it baffling that more organisations are prioritising customer acquisition over retention when the cost of a new customer compared to keeping an existing one is five fold at minimum. Companies that identify as “customer obsessed” have seen their revenue increase 41% faster than the companies whose obsessions lie elsewhere. 
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Engage, engage, engage!

Saying this affirmation in front of a mirror as part of your morning routine will not help with customer satisfaction. Actively replying to customer queries, comments and reviews on social media will! The importance of social media in customer service is rapidly growing as customers are turning to the likes of Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) with their queries more often than ever. Let’s have a look at a few compelling figures to have in your pocket for the next time you are fighting over your digital marketing budget with your CFO. These statistics will turn the biggest social media sceptics into believers in no time.
According to Business Dasher’s report by responding to customer service requests, and engaging and interacting with your customers on social media platforms (compared to the companies who choose not to), you can:

• Increase the basket size by 20-40% 
• Lower your churn rate 15%
• Cut your cost per contact by up to 83% 
• Increase brand advocacy by 25%

According to Statista’s most recent analysis of ​​the number of internet and social media users worldwide as of February 2025, over 65% of the global population are on social media, and an average consumer spends almost 2 and a half hours scrolling per day!
More importantly, 80% of consumers are using social media to engage with businesses. It makes perfect sense to meet your customers where they are!

So how can I provide excellent customer service through my social channels?

1. Be prompt!
   When a customer hits you with a Facebook Messenger query, they are expecting your answer within an hour! A nice initial automatic response setting the customer expectations is good, but make sure you reply in a timely manner!
   
   
2. Respond to the good, the bad and the ugly!
   It is disheartening to get a bad review on Google (it happens to the best of us), and the easy thing would be to just bury your head in the sand and forget about the whole thing. However, replying to the negative comments is important because it shows that you are committed to your customers. Replying to all reviews and comments, negative and positive, will build trust among your potential and existing customers.
   
   
3. Be proactive!
   Will your business be closed for one or two days for renovations or a staff outing? Update your opening hours on your digital channels to make sure there won’t be any disappointed customers knocking on your door. (This has happened to me once or twice, and needless to say, I was not a happy camper having driven through busy traffic to find the local DIY store closed when their Google Business Profile was claiming otherwise.)
   
   
4. Have the right tools!
   Managing multiple channels, especially if you have multiple locations, can be challenging. Using tools like our very own SocioConnect can make providing 5-star customer service a breeze! For example, all the comments, messages or reviews that are coming through each of your different digital channels can be viewed and responded to with ease. You can even update your store opening hours for all of your channels with one press of a button from our location management view (saving me a trip through a busy town centre). Providing 5-star customer service is light work with the right tools!

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Conclusion

Even though this article concentrated heavily on the numbers, the takeaway from this story was not how to squeeze the last cent out of your customer. I feel strongly that the important thing about customer care is exactly that, care. I am proud that I have joined a company that shares my passion (or obsession if you will) for our customers. Caring is at the core of our product and what we do, which shows in our own customer satisfaction score of 4.6 out of 5! If you would like to have a chat with us about how you can use SocioConnect to become customer-obsessed, fill in the form here, and we will be in touch promptly.