Interview with Uwe Lamnek, CEO of Ströer X

Ströer X is responding to the development and growth of recent years and is starting to expand its management team. Uwe Lamnek, previously COO & CTO at dialog marketing specialist Ströer X, is the new CEO. The new management team is completed by Narges Hekmat (COO), Dirk Scholand (CSO) and Sven Beiling (CDO). 

We spoke to Uwe Lamnek about Ströer X and its future development. 

 

How is the dialog marketing sector currently developing?

Uwe Lamnek: There are hundreds of providers on the German market. From very many small, owner-managed companies to international listed companies with over 400,000 employees, there is everything in our sector. However, the market has been shrinking continuously for years. In my view, this trend is likely to accelerate over the next ten years. The environment has not become any easier in recent years due to continuously increasing requirements and it is therefore becoming more difficult for smaller operators to survive.

As Ströer X, we are excellently positioned in this environment, as we can combine the reliability and professionalism of an M-Dax company with the agility and implementation strength of a medium-sized company. Our partners greatly appreciate this, as on the one hand aspects such as financial stability, cyber security and data protection are becoming increasingly important, while on the other hand we are still expected to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.

 

What opportunities and solutions does Ströer X offer its partners in this regard? 

Uwe Lamnek: Ströer X GmbH was founded in 2021 as the umbrella brand of the Ströer Group's dialog marketing segment. We offer dialog marketing solutions for telephone, email, chat and social media as well as direct sales. We are one of the largest German contact center operators and provide customer service at over 20 locations in Germany and Europe for numerous clients from twelve core industries - telecommunications, insurance, energy, IT, finance, recycling, e-commerce, healthcare, tourism, automotive, electrical industry, sports industry. These are all companies and brands that need support to deal with the many inquiries from their customers. Our focus is on direct interaction by phone or in writing, e.g. by email or chat. We offer leading live chat and messaging services and can thus provide our clients with comprehensive support in digital customer service and the optimization of customer relationship management. We help when questions and problems arise regarding the respective services or products of our partners. These can be technical problems such as a malfunctioning internet connection or commercial issues such as billing questions. In addition to pure service issues, we are also very active in cross-selling/upselling and early contract renewals.

 

To what extent is AI being used?

Uwe Lamnek: Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming an integral part of our contact centers, for example to automate routine tasks, actively support employees in responding to customer inquiries on all contact channels and optimize processes in one-to-one dialogue. 

Sven Beiling, our new CDO, will work with his teams to expand our digital products and solutions. The focus will be on AI/AI-supported solutions that are deeply integrated along the customer lifecycle and the respective phases of customer interaction.

The capabilities of the AI already in use today ensure that our employees can access information and knowledge modules more easily, quickly and accurately in order to competently address the many different customer concerns. This ensures an accelerated transfer of learning and gives employees the confidence they need to always act competently, even when faced with complex issues.

 

What are the plans for the new management team? What topics will you be focusing on in the coming months?

Uwe Lamnek: Progress and innovation - that's how I would summarize it. On the one hand, our aim is to continuously strengthen and expand our operational excellence. With this in mind, we are currently introducing a Customer Engagement Optimization platform that will enable us to provide future-proof workforce and quality & knowledge management and form the basis for the analysis and optimization of customer interactions.

Big data and business intelligence play an important role in this. Kai Martin Köhne, Managing Director and SVP Finance & Controlling, will drive forward their development. 

Secondly, we want to expand our nearshore and offshore platforms and further develop our remote agent organization into a flexible and efficient customer service. This means tailor-made and future-proof bestshoring concepts for our clients.

And around a year ago, Ströer X founded an Energy Competence Center. In the coming months, we will increase the scope of services in other sectors in order to be able to act as a specialist provider in industry verticals. We are currently building technology, expertise and customer-oriented solutions for the travel and mobility industry.