The Western European country of Germany has, for a long time, been a sales market that international businesses pay close attention to and strive hard to cultivate; furthermore, a significant number of foreign firms have begun to fully exert effort to successfully enter the European market. Germany is a populous country in Europe with high-consuming power, making it perfect for global business; as a result, a high number of international enterprises with high-end products have entered the German market with their brands.
German Customer Service Culture
Global companies desiring to expand to Western Europe via Germany’s sales market must provide superb service via native German customer service –and, many enterprises find the German customer service culture quite interesting. As an internationally-leading call center that focuses on genuine global customer engagement, Callnovo – which shares over 17 years of experience in the provision of quality global customer service outsourcing solutions to global corporations and Fortune 500 companies – shares their expertise regarding some of the important aspects to developing high-quality German language customer service that resonates with German customers/consumers and in-turn builds their brand loyalty; here’s a summary:
- Precise communication
- In general, Germans keep right to the point, preferring not to praise and complement one another; they are not like the Chinese, who prefer to complement one other and create a joyful communication environment – nor are they like the Japanese, who like to exchange greetings for several minutes before getting down to the subject. Germans are specific and speak with one another directly and thoroughly – in fact, their degree of directness can even be regarded as “cruel” at times. According to some Americans, the level of seriousness in German conversation is as though they are about to quarrel at any moment; however, these circumstances are quite usual for Germans – they prefer to remain calm and have serious conversations, so it is no surprise that they do this daily. Their attention is always on discussing and addressing problems themselves directly, and they don’t focus on the form or atmosphere created as a result of communication.
- Valued time & efficiency
- For Germans, superficial communication is a waste of time – so, most Germans don’t expect pleasant chat in the context of professional/business communication and conversation. In short, many polite customer service greetings will not flatter Germans.
- Pleasant dialogue
- At the same time, those interested in genuine German customer service should be aware of a few facts: (1) customer service representatives in Germany are typically friendly, polite, and open to dialogue, (2) German customer service agents’ emotional intelligence – important for successfully dealing with customer service issues – is naturally higher than the average German level due to the fact that customer care professionals go through expert customer service training, and (3) at the same time, it’s impossible to entirely eradicate this cultural gene from local German customer service personnel because Germans’ serious communication culture has permeated their bone marrow.
German Customer Service Agents
German businesses are more willing to serve their people properly – the strong manufacturing of products and the warm welcoming of consumers is not their primary business consideration.
The majority of Germans believe customer service reps are genuinely human and are not ‘slaves;’ they don’t need to ‘humbly’ interact with consumers. Likewise, Germans feel they don’t need to say “sorry” like customer care representatives from other countries if they haven’t committed a significant error.
A Shift in Customer Service Trends in Germany
It’s a fact that many German businesses – particularly in the insurance and telecommunications industries – have a customer service culture that’s not overly sweet and doesn’t go over the scale for customers; however, a shifting trend demonstrates that, in recent years, an increasing number of German enterprises have begun to take delight in providing high-quality, friendly customer service – and, the key driving force behind this development is that foreign companies are entering the German market to compete, investing in a strong boosting of customer satisfaction experiences, and they are enhancing the operations management of their customer service teams – from CRM systems to omni-channel communication.
Different cultures exist in different regions of Germany; People from Berlin, for example, are proud of their extensive attitude – but, other regions may see pleasant dialogue as hypocritical.
The Attitude of Companies Entering the German Market
Which direction should customer service teams in the German sales market go? Whether you’ve a multinational e-commerce company – or a single international brand with intentions to set-up business in Germany – or you’ve a business that provides consumer electronics or industrial products, businesses going global and looking to tap into the German market should cultivate a German customer service culture based on the combining and honoring of German traditions and cultural status quo.
Callnovo Contact Center – a Viable Solution for German Market Expansion
For off-shore businesses looking to penetrate the German sales market, Callnovo Contact Center has top-tier customer engagement solutions to meet German customers where they’re at and ensure high-quality customer satisfaction experiences that increase brand recognition and loyalty, creating strong, successful sales competition amongst competitors. Callnovo’s worldwide multilingual customer service outsourcing team’s customer service professionals provide excellent assistance so businesses like your own can receive long-term financial gains and security; furthermore, Callnovo helps with the deployment of CRM platform support and native language talent – as well as acute operations management.