The FTSE 100 plunged nearly 11% on March 12th - the worst fall since Black Monday in October 1987. The turmoil came as a result of President Trump’s decision to implement a travel ban for most of Europe to the States out of growing fears around the COVID-19 outbreak, combined with plummeting oil prices.
Although airline and travel-related stocks took the biggest hit, nearly all markets were affected by concerns over how the outbreak might impact businesses globally; stock markets in other countries are following suit; in the US with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 10% (the biggest drop since 1987) and Asian markets following suit on Friday.
In the 2008 market crash, a clear pattern was established early on, says Touchpoint CEO Frank Van der Velden: “Companies that maintained business as usual practices looking after their customers and staff as long as practicable during that market rout were able to come out on the other side of the crash more well-prepared for the future” - those who went into crisis mode following the crash tended to be more permanently stunted in the long run.
While companies may benefit in the long term by operating business as usual, consumers are already shifting their mentalities, stocking up on groceries, cancelling travel plans, and working from home in growing numbers every day. With these changes in routine, consumers will be ever more critical of companies that aren’t keeping up, and companies need to be proactive. It has become more important than ever to keep lines of communications open with customers and stay on top of feedback in this ever-changing world.
Touchpoint Ipiphany can manage these sudden influxes in large quantities of unstructured data - from social media mentions to feedback forms - and return immediate results from 100% of data rather than a small sample. Trend analysis and granular reporting allow companies to stay on the pulse of their customer feedback, and make real-time adjustments so that they can stay aligned with customer expectations and changes in buying patterns over periods of adverse trading.
The Touchpoint Ipiphany team continues in full operational mode during this crisis and ready to support organisations who wish to keep close to the pulse of their customers and staff.
Get in touch and let us know what you'd like to learn and we'll tell you how Touchpoint Group can help you make data-driven decisions that benefit your customers.