Markus Mertl

Director Global Customer Service

Sankt Wendel, Germany

Experience

May 2022 - Nov 2024
2 years 7 months

Director Global Customer Service

Kramp.com

  • Set the strategy for achieving the Customer Service organisation's mission, vision, and goals.
  • Led the transformation and implementation of the new Customer Service global strategy and established the new global Customer Service team.
  • Implemented the new customer communication platform that fits the needs of the customer while providing the business new efficiencies and savings.
  • Developed a comprehensive policy and process framework for Customer Service which delivers high Service Levels and oversaw its implementation and adherence.
  • Managed the budget of 35 Mio. € for the Global Customer Service organisation and took responsibility for setting and managing regional Customer Service budgets.
  • Achieved cost savings of globally 40 FTE through automation and centralisation.
  • Directly managed 5 central managers and indirectly managed 8 regional Customer Service managers with 400 employees globally.
  • Established a new global Customer Service KPI dashboard with goal setting and drove performance improvements.
Jan 2021 - Apr 2022
4 months
Munich, Germany

Interim Head of Customer Service

Temedica

Jul 2019 - Dec 2021
2 years 6 months

VP Customer Service/ Technical Service Global Equipment and Consumables (DACH)

Dentsply Sirona

  • Established and led the Service organisation (Customer and Technical Service).
  • Merged three single Customer Service organisations and established a new global Customer Service Management team.
  • Directly managed 6-10 managers and 150 staff at Bensheim location and indirectly 200 Customer Service employees globally.
  • Successfully transitioned the Customer Service organisation into remote working in March 2020 while maintaining no service interruption and improving performance level.
  • Developed and implemented a new Customer Service vision and strategy to improve performance, costs, and utilised automation and technology for outstanding customer experience.
  • Implemented tools and processes to drive efficiencies in repair, maintenance, and supply of spare parts.
  • Established a global Customer Service KPI dashboard and regularly exceeded service metrics and budgetary goals.
  • Collaborated closely with the global and DACH commercial team to achieve sales exceeding 1.4 Billion € and profit targets.
Sep 2015 - Jun 2019
3 years 10 months
Brussels, Belgium

Director Customer Service EMEA (Abbott Medical device division)

Abbott

  • Established and led the newly created Customer Service organisation of EMEA for managing +1 Billion € revenue and evolved the organisation into a full-range Customer Service center.
  • Managed 8 managers and 120 staff across various locations in 20 countries.
  • Developed and implemented a vision and strategy for driving a high-performance work culture leveraging industry best practices and technology.
  • Managed all budget, personnel, business processes, and overall performance of Customer Service operations, including billing and resource management.
  • Implemented technologies for touchless order automation, freeing up resources for key and value-added tasks.
  • Supported tools (SAP/ CRM) implementation to enhance service support for local technicians in repair and maintenance sectors.
  • Led the Global Contact Center Strategy & Roadmap project focusing on new tools, automation, and digitalisation.
  • Developed and implemented a Global Customer Service KPI dashboard.
Jan 2013 - Aug 2015
2 years 8 months

Management Consultant

  • Managed various consultancy and interim projects for Customer Service and Sales.
  • Customer Service Manager EMEA (interim), Kloeckner Pentaplast (April 2015 – August 2015).
  • Consultancy for optimising Customer Service organisation, Telecommunica (January 2015 – March 2015).
  • Managing Director (interim), Tempobrain Ltd., Zurich (January 2013 – October 2014).
Sep 2011 - Dec 2013
1 year 4 months
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Director Service & Quality (Member of the Board)

Thomas Cook AG

  • Responsible in Central Europe for all B2B and B2C service units of the tour operator Neckermann and Thomas Cook.
  • Managed 7 managers and 350 staff at various locations across 3 countries.
  • Developed a new service strategy aligned with company strategy for all Thomas Cook service units, reducing costs by 2.5–3.5 Mio. €.
  • Reduced actual costs by 15% compared to the annual budget (>20 Mio. €).
  • Implemented quick wins to improve overall performance and established a new IT-based reporting tool for all relevant KPIs.
Mar 2007 - Jun 2011
4 years 4 months
Eschborn, Germany

Vice President Customer Service and Sales (Member of the Board)

Deutsche Telekom Kundenservice GmbH (DTKS)

  • Strategic and operational management of two Customer Service centers for the Customer segments "Platinum" and "Starter".
  • Managed 9 managers and 600 staff.
  • Integrated various functions from fixed line, mobile, and online into one integrated Customer Service organisation.
  • Achieved or exceeded all relevant sales, service, cost (budget >50 million €), and Customer experience key performance indicators.
  • Led a change management project to centralise 1500 staff countrywide into a new service division and negotiated with relevant social partners.
  • Additionally, managed consultancy for all business and private customers for the central region (Hessen and Rhineland-Palatinate).
  • Handled profit and loss responsibility of total budget exceeding 100 million €.
  • Significantly improved all key performance indicators (sales, service level, cost, and Customer experience) to benchmark level.
Aug 2005 - Feb 2007
1 year 7 months
Cork, Ireland

European Contact Center Manager

Amazon.com

  • Managed the project for research, selection, and setup of the new contact center location.
  • Launched the new European contact center within a cost budget of several million USD.
  • Recruited approximately 20 European managers and 250 Customer Service representatives for UK and France.
  • Achieved relevant KPIs in the first year.
Nov 2001 - Jul 2005
3 years 9 months
Regensburg, Germany

General Manager Customer Service Germany

Amazon.com

  • Managed the German Customer Service with 11 managers and up to 350 staff.
  • Turned around the German Customer Service organisation to become the best internal Customer Service organisation at Amazon.
  • Reduced operating costs by 40% through productivity increase and integration of two service providers, maintaining top quality level (budget of several million USD).
  • Implemented and cultivated a performance-driven culture to achieve top performance results.
  • Developed the management into an outstanding Customer Service management team.
  • Additionally, temporarily managed the Contact Center with 250 staff at Grand Forks, North Dakota (USA) from April 2004 to July 2004.
Feb 2000 - Oct 2001
1 year 9 months
Saarbrücken, Germany

Senior Call Center Director

Sykes.com

  • Directed operations for two contact centers managing 550 staff.
Feb 1996 - Jan 2000
4 years
Czech Republic

Various Customer Service Manager roles

TNT Express Worldwide

Jul 1993 - Jan 1996
2 years 7 months
Cochem, Germany

District manager

Norma GmbH

  • Managed 10 branches with personnel, revenue, and cost responsibility.
Oct 1989 - Jun 1993
3 years 9 months
Trier, Germany

Business Studies (Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH))

Fachhochschule Trier

Completed Business Studies with majors in corporate management, controlling, and data processing.

Jun 1986 - Aug 1988
2 years 3 months
Wittlich-Land, Germany

Deputy store manager

Aldi GmbH

  • Worked as the deputy store manager at the Wittlich branch.
Aug 1983 - Jun 1986
2 years 11 months

Retail Apprenticeship

Horten AG

Completed apprenticeship as retailer.

Summary

  • Successful Customer Service and Sales leader with international experience in various industries e.g. agriculture, healthcare/medical device, e-commerce, retail, telecommunication, logistics, and travel

  • B2B and B2C experience

  • Sales, Telesales and after-sales experience gained in multiple industries

  • 28 years international management experience in five different countries (UK, Ireland, USA, Czech Republic., Germany) with different management levels for different geographies (GLOBAL, EMEA, DACH)

  • Experience in establishing, transforming or expanding Customer Service organisation

  • Focus for achieving highest customer satisfaction through operational excellence and implementation of sustainable digital footprint

  • Strong stakeholder management with commercial, supply chain and operations to achieve sales, profit margin and inventory/logistic goals

  • Successfully managed a range of top projects e.g. implementation of customer communication platform (Sprinklr) and transformation of Global Customer Service organisation; implementation of automation (touchless) of orders; digitalisation of customer contacts channels; definition and implementation of Global Contact Center strategy expansion; turnaround + refocusing of Customer Service organisation

Languages

German
Native
English
Advanced

Education

Oct 1989 - Jun 1993

Fachhochschule Trier

Diplom-Betriebswirt, corporate management, controlling and data processing · Business Studies · Trier, Germany