While the customer loyalty is an important issue for businesses from any scale, smaller companies’ need in customer loyalty is a more struggling subject. The reason for that fact lies underneath the term branding. If there is a strong brand, customers tend to feel confident and prefer to be loyal. And micro, small and medium sized (MSME) companies are not expected to possess strong brands as the bigger competitors (actually, this is a subject of debate. But we take this common reference for the purpose of this and previous article). That’s why MSMEs must give priority and work harder on the customer loyalty issue than the bigger companies. We started to open the door for customer loyalty for MSMEs and provide some practical ways and tools on the subject. The first 3 subjects discussed in the previous article were:

1. Focusing on right target groups of customers for marketing efforts
2. Being trustworthy and emphatic with your customers
3. Taking care of customer opinion

In this article we continue with more explanations and recommendations.

4. Frontline staff is important: Frontline staff which is, staff with direct contact to the clients must have high “emotional intelligence”. t is required since every staff should be aware of the importance of each client. This implies that, in order to keep customer loyalty, a business should have loyal staff. A loyal staff will promote the company and flow the customer insights both of which, very crucial to the success of any business. Do not forget; How you treat your staff will determine how they treat the clients.
5. Communication is important: A loyal customer is the one who have been communicated regularly. You must communicate to your customers in a diverse structure; while your clients should be able to do the same. Traditional and most practical channel in this regard is making visits. While this channel keeps its importance nowadays but there are some other ways of communicating to the customers.
6. 1. Social Media: Besides using Facebook, Instagram, twitter, TikTok, etc. individually, you should have corporate accounts on them. And you should be responsive in them around the clock. You should use these channels actively to promote and communicate to your target customers.
   2. E-Mail: t is advised to relay periodic bulletins and special offers to current and target customers. There are some automated systems for doing that and even MSMEs can benefit from these services.
   3. Phone Calls: Making calls is still among the options of communicating to customers. But it should be used on purpose and staff who will contact to customers should be trained beforehand.

6. Applying Customer Loyalty Programs: The simplest version of such programs is to offer rewards to clients in line with their purchasing performances. Making discounts or offering free products/services are the first two applications in the list. But there are some more Customer Relationship Management (CRM) based applications for the businesses who take this subject seriously.

Explanations and practical proposals given above unfolds the importance of customer loyalty and using the tools for it. While this has been valid for all modern times, but after being hit by Covid-19 pandemics, not losing the customer contact in any case became more apparent for all the businesses. Surveys conducted during the Pandemics have shown that, customers prefer to keep their contacts when there is a business for which, they feel loyal. This is one of the key points for MSMEs to keep in mind in their daily operations after the pandemics.

Even officials say that the worst days are over, there are still post sensitivity in relation to the Pandemics in the customer side. That’s why it is better to communicate, in any opportunity, to your customers that how you still take care of any precautions in favor of your clients.

In either way of communicating to the customers, it is better to have the following items to be relayed to the customers:

• New products/services, new staff, new premises, vehicles, machinery, etc.
• Photos and videos showing unprecedented product/service and properties of your business
• Charity efforts of your business
• Campaigns, offers, coupons and other promotions in limited periods

Leave no reason for your clients to prefer for switching to the competitors!