Sustainable growth together with customers

The Metsä Forest business strategy aims at sustainable, customer-focused, and growing sourcing of timber based on comprehensive forestry services and the utilisation of data in all operations. The forest-owning members of the Metsäliitto co-operative are promised dependable, comprehensive, and sustainable timber trade and forestry services.

At Metsä Forest, forest owners are served by top specialists in timber trade service sales, harvesting, and forestry, who benefit from their experience in best industry practices and understand the service needs of their customers.

Innolink has been improving the customer and market awareness of Metsä Forest specialists by means of customer satisfaction surveys and analyses for over ten years now. Listening to customers, understanding their operations at a deeper level, and boosting the efficiency of field operations have greatly improved the satisfaction of forest owners and solidified their trust in Metsä Forest. By understanding their customers more deeply, Metsä Forest wants to maintain and grow its leading market position on the forest and timber sourcing market.

The customer experience determines the success of timber trading

The customer experience and emotions often decide the decisions that forest owners make concerning future timber trading. As such, Innolink constantly consults Metsä Forest specialists about the importance of the customer experience in decision-making.

Metsä Forest specialists are provided with a comprehensive real-time picture of the satisfaction of forest owners with the actions of forest specialists in different sourcing regions by means of an on-going customer survey conducted by Innolink. The Power BI compilation display keeps track of ten key customer experience indicators, the most important of which are the NPS recommendation likelihood and essential gauges for operative activities and service.

In addition, the open feedback analyses and customer experience flow analyses conducted as part of Innolink’s customer surveys have given forest specialists more tools for the development of the customer experience.

– We want to evaluate the success of timber trading on the basis of data. Innolink’s flow and impact analyses can be used for example to predict what we should do to reinforce our market position and ensure that forest owners want to do business with us and not someone else.

Director of Member Services Hannes Vickholm, Metsä Forest

– There may be aspects of the customer service process of timber trading that are stagnant. We are interested in seeing how many forest owners still recommend us at the harvest stage or if satisfied customers are better customers than critical ones. What is the most dominant satisfaction factor, price or customer service? How can neutral customers be converted into recommending ones?

Business Director Pasi Lahtinen, Innolink

With an on-going customer survey, Innolink is determining the satisfaction of the customers with the service at all important stages of the timber trade, tree harvest, and forestry. According to the survey results, customer satisfaction has improved greatly over time. Metsä Forest is streamlining its operations continuously on the basis of customer feedback. The survey results based on the customer experience are also analysed carefully with an eye on business economics.

A deeper understanding of customers strengthens business operations

The partnership with Innolink covers the building and development of operational models for continuous knowledge-driven leadership and the customer experience. At Metsä Forest, utilising knowledge is strongly present in everyday operations, and the results are actively deployed on the field.

– We have been improving our customer awareness for years now. We want to maintain this culture of continuous development and to be the most wanted partner among forest owners. We are aware of the need to keep improving in an on-going manner and to stay on top of things. My work would be much more difficult if I did not have relevant knowledge at my disposal. Besides myself, there are hundreds of other beneficiaries of continuous knowledge in our organisation and stakeholder groups.

Director of Member Services Hannes Vickholm, Metsä Forest