Distant forest owners satisfaction with Södras service offering and quality of service

The development of technology and the mechanization in the Swedish forestry has during the last 60 years resulted in depopulation of the country side and due to that the amount of distance forest owners has increased. Therefore the forest companies need to make some adjustments in order to keep the distance forest owners as customers and to attract new ones. The purpose of this essay was to examine and analyze the distance forest owners satisfaction with Södras service offering and quality of service and further develop some proposals for action. A web-based survey was sent out to 634 distance forests owners in Stockholm, Sweden, all members of Södra. 269 respondents participated in the survey and of them, 27 did also participate in a follow-up telephone interview. The results show that the members generally was satisfied with the service offering and the quality of service. Suggestions for improvement regarding the service offering is all about implementing forest management courses in Stockholm and including providing financial and generational counseling, also on location in Stockholm. The quality of service can be improved if the inspector changes the way of working towards an even more customer adapted way and also improve the dialogue with the entrepreneurs. Further suggestions for improvement is to a greater extent welcome complaints and to give some compensation and/or apologize when it is motivated