Satisfied customers and consumers
Customer understanding and consumer insight are at the core of determining which products and services SCA develops and how it delivers innovations to the market. Customer and consumer satisfaction is a measure of how well these products and services meet or exceed customer and consumer expectations.
Some of SCA’s initiatives to achieve customer understanding and consumer insight are listed below:
- Monitoring macro trends to identify changes in behavior
- Home visits
- Focus group meetings
- In-depth interviews
- Interviews with SCA sales representatives
- Monitoring activities on SCA’s online and social media sites
Customer surveys
Customer feedback enables SCA to offer better products and solutions. Every business unit has methods to investigate customer satisfaction.
The hygiene operations conduct a systematic customer follow-up. This includes both external reports and independent surveys. SCA has introduced global systems for customer feedback in the incontinence and tissue operations. In 2015, SCA conducted 3,498 customer follow-ups in the incontinence operations. The AfH (Away-from-Home) business conducts customer surveys every second year and in 2014, 1,218 customer follow-ups were conducted. SCA has introduced the Net Promoter Score concept in approximately 75% of its hygiene business.
SCA also offers knowledge and support for the development of operations at such institutions as nursing homes, where SCA can make a difference and create value for its customers and users. SCA places high value on opportunities for direct customer contact.
The retail trade accounts for a significant part of SCA’s sales. The Group uses external comparison reports in which the largest retail chains assess their suppliers based on customer service, logistics, sales support, marketing and product development. Consumers who purchase retail products are followed up through general brand and product recognition surveys.
Complaints procedures
SCA has a global SAP-based complaint handling system that was introduced in 2011. The Group seeks to compensate unsatisfied customers directly and determine whether a need exists for further measures beyond the individual case. For example, production personnel receive feedback to determine whether a production fault was the underlying cause. User complaints and opinions provide valuable consumer insight and it is important that the knowledge gathered is transferred to the organization.
Complaints have remained at a stable and low level for the past two years. For Personal Care products, the complaint frequency is lower than one in a million supplied products. In the Tissue operations, the corresponding figure is 3.1 per thousand tons.