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Coffee
with Ken
Do you have a motto that guides
the way you do business?
“Lead by your own example. This
means being on the frontline and
showing your team the way. An-
other motto dates from my youth,
when I played handball at top lev-
el: Never lose your fighting spir-
it!”
What achievement in
your career are you
especially proud of?
“I’ve been in the business for 38
years, so there are quite a few
things to be proud of. I am proud
of the team spirit and high level of
motivation within our sales team
which has led to better perfor-
mance than many of our peers.”
Please share one tip
that is invaluable
in life or business.
“Respect others and be friend-
ly towards everybody. The same
rule applies in both private and
business life.”
What is your company’s
biggest asset?
“It is definitely the ability to re-
new and innovate. UPM is doing
a great job at transforming us into
a leading Biofore company.”
Who has inspired you in
your business life and why?
“
Matti Alahuhta
, the former
CEO at KONE Corporation.
Last Christmas I read his book
on leadership. What I like about
him is his strategic thinking and
very customer-focused mindset.
He seems to be a great people’s
leader, too.”
What is your
favourite newspaper and
favourite place to read it?
“I glance through the daily news-
paper every morning at the break-
fast table and go back and read the
most interesting articles on the
sofa in the evening. My choice at
home is good old
Hufvudstads-
bladet
, the leading Swedish-lan-
guage newspaper in Finland.
When I’m travelling I go for the
local newspaper to get a view of
what’s happening around me.”
During a career spanning nearly four decades,
Ken Ehrnrooth
has nurtured hundreds of long-lasting
customer relationships. “Delivering a superior customer
experience starts with putting yourself out there and
truly understanding your customer’s needs.”
How to
win
the customer’s
heart
Text:
Riikka Schenk
Photo:
Anja Wechsler
n these challenging times, publish-
ers and suppliers must work in part-
nership, helping each other navigate
through to a successful future. Despite
current headwinds, or perhaps because
of them, unit price only is starting to
lose its position as the main criteria for
selecting a supplier.
“Our customers are true profession-
als and they see the value of a coher-
ent commercial policy, reliability, com-
mitment, innovations, product devel-
opment and sustainability, which all
are becoming increasingly important,”
says
Ken Ehrnrooth
, Vice President
of Sales, News & Retail at UPM Pa-
per ENA.
Making the right choice
The UPM’s aim is to be the preferred
supplier to selected customers, working
in long-term partnership with them, not
just negotiating from one period to the
next. Trust and be trusted in the founda-
tion for long-lasting relationships.
“To build trust it’s important to com-
municate in a timely and honest man-
ner, and never make promises you can-
not keep. We have to show engage-
ment, treat the customer’s challenges
as our own, and show that we truly val-
ue the relationship,” reveals Ehrnrooth.
“Behaving consistently over cycles
is crucial, too: nobody likes nasty sur-
prises,” affirms Ehrnrooth.
Superior customer experience
Ehrnrooth emphasizes that the entire
team must be engaged and committed
to delivering a superior customer expe-
rience. “It’s not a one man show, but a
team effort, from the frontlines to top
management. The whole team has to
show a positive attitude, an open mind-
set and determination. I always say: if
there’s a will, there is a way’.”
According to Ehrnrooth superior cus-
tomer experience is the only meaning-
ful way to differentiate in the commod-
ity business, as this is something that
cannot be copied: “Competitors can try
to copy our quality or service, but they
cannot copy the way we connect with
our customers,” he emphasizes.
“Superior customer experience
means that we have happy customers
who trust UPM and appreciate dealing
with us. In the end, it’s all about mutu-
ally achieving a win-win situation that
benefits everybody.”
I
UPM
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