“We are business enablers”
September 2021
Result Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Walfried O. Sauer founded the company in 1996 and initially ran it alone from home as a security consultant. Today, the company advises and protects clients worldwide from all types of criminal and terrorist attacks. Axel Wochinger has been managing director since 2021.
Mr. Wochinger, what goes through your mind when you look back on the successful development of the Result Group?
Wochinger: From today's perspective, Result Group would have to be invented if it didn't already exist. The challenges surrounding security, whether for companies, private individuals or even states, have become more diverse and complex worldwide. This is accompanied by increased demand for professional services that provide customers with competent advice and guide them safely through these challenges. Result Group has achieved this very well over the last 25 years. As a premium service provider, we offer services that are unique. We owe this primarily to our employees, who are among the best in their field, a network that has been maintained over many years and the will to always work in a results-oriented manner in the interests of our customers. The high quality standards have continued since the company was founded until today.
Result Group enjoys a reputation as a leading international consulting firm for risk and crisis management. Please briefly summarize the core competencies in both areas.
Wochinger: The skills arise, on the one hand, from the long experience that our company has accumulated over a quarter of a century and, on the other hand, from our personnel selection, in which we aim to recruit only the best candidates in the security industry. Paired with excellent university degrees in various disciplines, outstanding international contacts and experience as well as the ability to work in German and English at a native speaker level without friction. Our employees have different specialist knowledge, so that in combination we can cover a wide range of security topics. In addition, our personal protection employees are also former members of special military, police and intelligence units.
How do you find your clients and how do you gain their trust?
Wochinger: Our acquisition is based very much on the positive feedback from our customers, who often refer us. For us the best compliment. We also have very good international access, through which we are constantly expanding our network and sustainably strengthening the Result Group brand abroad. Last but not least, we try to spend as much time as possible with the customer, which strengthens the relationship with them.
When do customers come to you – when a crisis has already occurred, or as a preventive measure to minimize risks in advance?
Wochinger: Both happen, but prevention plays a particularly important role. Result Group works in an analytical and advisory capacity for all well-known German as well as several American and British insurance companies that insure companies against business risks. For example against product extortion, espionage or kidnapping of personnel. On their behalf, we check with potential policyholders whether they are adequately prepared against crises - including crisis teams, emergency plans and security concepts. If this is confirmed, you will get the policy you want. If not, we support you in setting up the necessary infrastructure or provide it ourselves. We also train employees who are to be sent to international crisis regions on how to behave in extreme situations. Overall, our task in this context is to prepare companies to be able to concentrate fully on their business. That's why Result Group sees itself as a business enabler.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, many companies are still not doing enough on their own when it comes to prevention. This sometimes results in very large damage that could have been avoided. Some people only contact us when the horse has already bolted and they no longer know what to do. Then they try to find out who can support them and end up with Result Group.
Things are different for exposed private individuals: As soon as people have large assets, sooner or later they will almost inevitably be confronted with the issue of security. They then often actively seek advice and support themselves.
In its anniversary year, Result Group presents itself as an agile, economically sound medium-sized consulting company. What particular challenges had to be overcome in the course of growth and what key learning steps were required?
Wochinger: The challenge is essentially to accommodate growth in such a way that quality never suffers. We pay particular attention to personnel selection and the constant development of our services. It is very difficult to find suitable staff, especially when it comes to recruiting young talent. Many people would like to take the step into consulting, but only very few have the prerequisites for this. The same also applies to our personal security personnel, all of whom are hand-picked, specially trained and have many years of experience.
Result Group is divided into the business areas Corporate Security, Government Security and Private Security. How and why did this structure come about?
Wochinger: Above all, it serves to make our very diverse portfolio of preventive and reactive security services transparent for companies, government institutions and private customers.
Historically, Result Group began in 1996 with the first consulting mandates to set up crisis team organizations and advise on attacks caused by organized crime. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States sparked further strong demand for corporate crisis and emergency plans, prompting Result Group to launch its Corporate Security division. With the founding of the Private Security division in 2003, Result Group responded to the desire of numerous entrepreneurs to expand their services to include their private security. Government Security was founded in 2009. Since then, we have been carrying out projects on behalf of the European Union, advising governments and government organizations, but also many non-governmental organizations in developing and emerging countries, on reforms in the security sector.
With Government Security we have a unique selling point – no other security consulting company offers it in this form.
In the past you had other branches in Berlin, Hamburg and Brussels. Why were these abandoned again?
Wochinger: We have found that these offices do not provide any added value in the long term because we are always called to customers and permanent representation in different locations no longer makes sense.
Instead, we invested in the digital transformation of our company early on, which is particularly beneficial to us in the current challenges of the Corona crisis. At the same time, we built decentralized teams and made working models more flexible. As a medium-sized company, we can claim to be very well positioned digitally. This enables a high level of flexibility that we offer our customers – a key cornerstone of the company.
When companies and private individuals use Result Group's services, they require the highest level of discretion. Mr. Wochinger, even if you generally don't mention any names of clients: What particularly exciting, perhaps adrenaline-filled mandates are you thinking back to on the occasion of this milestone anniversary?
Wochinger: We have earned the trust of our customers over decades. Many of us started our careers in the security agencies and have the highest security ratings. This still shapes the employees today. Secrecy is part of the job description. We attach great importance to this and select our staff in special selection processes in accordance with our values of integrity, reliability and professionalism.
We can certainly provide many examples where people and companies have sought our help in kidnapping and extortion cases. What was certainly exciting more recently was the evacuation of almost 800 Europeans from Latin America in the spring of 2020, after the government repatriation flights in the wake of the Corona crisis were over, airports were closed and people were desperately stuck. The press had already reported extensively on this. The thanks we received more than made up for the lengthy negotiations and countless night shifts. This also showed what experienced staff and a sustainable network can make possible in the respective countries, but also with decision-makers in politics and administration.
Crime is always on the rise, fear of terrorism is growing and the security situation is currently deteriorating all over the world. What effects do you feel from this and how do you deal with it?
Wochinger: The range of possible threats is very large. One challenge for us is to quickly have effective countermeasures in place for new forms of crime. Product extortion was in vogue for a long time and “cyber extortion” or ransomware attacks are currently becoming a huge topic. We have to monitor such developments closely and react correctly. We are also seeing an increase in threats against wealthy families, which we are countering with comprehensive security concepts as well as personal and property protection measures.
Crisis plans and resilience for companies due to very rapidly changing security situations are also in greater demand. The effects of the Corona crisis on the global economy and the labor market are enormous and most countries do not have the social security systems that we know from Germany. This has a direct impact on the security situation. Social tensions are increasing, both here and in the many international markets where our customers do business.
Mr. Wochinger – thank you very much for the interview
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