The Role of Customer Orientation in the Operation of SMEs

Abstract

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises play a key role in the economy, as they contribute tangibly to the improvement of the competitiveness of the given country, and, thanks to their high market coverage, they provide a high number of workplaces. Businesses, however, have to face many challenges, as the coronavirus epidemic has made it very difficult to acquire customers. We can say that in the current situation, corporate success is closely related to customer satisfaction. During the research presented in this study, we examined the effect of the coronavirus epidemic on the sales promotion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with regard to customer focus in both Hungary and Slovakia. By analysing the collected primary data, we examined our formulated hypothesis that the more attention the company pays to market research, the easier it is to address customers in the given market. As a result of the testing, in the case of both countries, it can be said that if companies pay more attention to market research, they are more easily able to address the audience in the given market.