The 7 biggest customer service differences between Dutch and German customers!

We all know that Germans and Dutch people differ. This is especially important if you, as a Dutch entrepreneur, also operate in Germany. We provide German-language customer service for a number of Dutch companies. There are some major differences there. We have listed the most important ones for you:

Language Skills: You will, of course, speak to your German-speaking customers in German. Germans are sensitive to language skills though. You have to speak to your German customers with native German (C1 level) in customer service. They are very sensitive to that. That's a difference from the Dutch, who accept accents or even English-speaking support a bit easier.

More formal communication: In the Netherlands, we communicate informally pretty quickly, even in customer service. You and you are quickly chosen and a joke is sometimes made. German customers value more formal and professional communication. Herr and Frau followed by the last name is much more common as je or jij. An important difference to consider.

Precision and accuracy: Dutch customers are a bit more forgiving when it comes to not exactly adhering to agreed timelines. For example, if a certain deadline is agreed upon then a German customer attaches great importance to that. That's what customer service really needs to be set up for.

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What our customers say about our services

As a start-up, we were looking for a scalable solution for our international customer service. We then started a partnership with SpangenbergGroep. In the years that followed, we grew rapidly and SpangenbergGroep ensured that our customer service grew nicely along with us. From a few hundred interactions per month to a few hundred interactions per day across all possible channels. In particular, its flexibility and ability to completely unburden us have enabled us to grow from start-up to multinational.

"Our collaboration has now been running for almost 2 years and I must say it has exceeded my expectations. It is always difficult to convey product content knowledge remotely and this has also forced us to look at our own documentation and training courses. Working together has taught us, at least me, that it is unnecessary and actually undesirable to transfer all knowledge in this way. For instance, we now have comprehensive lists and work instructions, where before we built on the individual knowledge of our own team. Why go it alone when we know more together? In other words, why do it the hard way when it can be done together."

In our peak season, we had to deal with a large increase in customer inquiries. Since we operate in almost all European countries, this was a challenge. We started looking for a partner who could support us in Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, French and English. In addition, we wanted support on telephony, e-mail, chat and ticketing. In the end, we chose SpangenbergGroep. We have now been working with them for 5 years. In high season we need a lot of staff there and in low season a lot less.

We have our own internal call center where we handle much of our customer service inquiries ourselves. SpangenbergGroup is a flexible shell for us. We have a permanent staff and SpangenbergGroup's team supports us when it's busy. In this way, we avoid a queue for our customers. The employees of SpangenbergGroep carry out almost all tasks, which means that they fully participate as the first line. This gives us the flexibility to be easily accessible even when we are busy.

With our webshop, we wanted to expand into Germany. We ourselves did not have any German-speaking employees who could answer customer service questions. SpangenbergGroup is now helping us with German customer service so that we can simply provide good accessibility for our German customers as well.

Dealing with complaints: German customers expect to be taken seriously and if it comes to a complaint, they expect a lot. Detailed information, quick feedback and completeness.

High demands for quality. German customers have somewhat higher demands when it comes to quality. So this also applies to customer service. Customer service simply has to be in order. Being unclear and not having things completely in order is an eyesore for German customers.

Feedback and follow-up: German customers value follow-up after the purchase. They expect you to inform them about any updates, new products or offers. Dutch customers are also interested in follow-up, but may possibly be a little less formal in their expectations.

Brightness: German customers like to know where they stand. In doing so, it is therefore important for customer service to ensure that clarity is provided. Clarity about things like return policy and opening hours etc. Germans want transparency.

About SpangenbergGroup

Just good customer service? We can help you with that! By giving you outsource customer service we provide very good customer service! Worry-free provided with the best customer serive.

With us team of customer service specialists we create customized solutions. Customized solutions with which we can fully take care of almost any organization in the field of customer contact!

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