Sales Strategies That Work in the DACH Region

There is no such thing as a "DACH strategy." Sorry, but not sorry. 🤷♀️ If your approach to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is just translating your product data into German and hoping for the best, you are leaving money on the table—or worse, burning it on logistics. We are looking at a combined e-commerce volume of over €115 billion. But treating these three distinct markets as a monolith is lazy, and the data proves it. I was recently asked to map out the actual state of the DACH marketplace landscape for the Channable blog. Here's my take on three very different markets: 🇩🇪 Germany: Yes, Amazon is the baseline. But if you ignore curated platforms like OTTO or high-reach players like Kaufland Global Marketplace, you are actively capping your market share. 🇦🇹 Austria: It is not Germany’s 17th state. Fulfilling Austrian orders from your Munich warehouse? No problem. But even though Munich is much closer to Salzburg then to Hamburg, shipping costs differ wildly. 🇨🇭 Switzerland: Still the highest margins in Europe (though even Swiss customers have started to look more closely at prices last year), but Amazon isn’t king here. If you want to win, you play by the rules of Digitec Galaxus AG. After getting your customs clearance (DDP) sorted of course. Have you separated your P&L for these three countries yet, or are you still looking at one big "DACH" bucket? #Ecommerce #Marketplaces #DACH #Strategy #RetailMedia #Channable

DACH is often treated as one market. In reality, it’s three very different marketplace plays. 🧩 Same language ≠ same strategy. And international brands that ignore this usually notice it where it hurts most: margins. A classic example from practice: Brands launch on Amazon.de, activate Austria “by default” – and then wonder why conversion rates in AT underperform. The reason is rarely demand. It’s cross-border shipping costs that suddenly appear at checkout and quietly kill conversion. No drama. Just friction. In short: DACH is not "Germany and friends". We’re talking about a combined eCommerce volume of €115+ billion – but you only unlock it if you stop treating the region as one grey blob. In a new guest article for our partner Channable, my co-founder Ingrid breaks down what really matters across the three markets: 🇩🇪 Germany Amazon is the baseline – but not the full picture. Without OTTO, Kaufland Global Marketplace and strong category players like Zalando and MediaMarktSaturn, you’re leaving relevant volume untouched. 🇦🇹 Austria Closely linked to Germany operationally, but very sensitive when it comes to trust, localization and pricing logic. Treat it as its own market – or accept hidden inefficiencies. Amazon.de is strong here, but other players like Otto, ebay or Kaufland offer localized .at options that are worth a look. 🇨🇭 Switzerland High prices, high expectations, special rules. Digitec Galaxus AG beats Amazon, DDP is non-negotiable – but margins often justify the extra complexity. The takeaway: DACH needs three deliberate decisions. 👉 Read the full article on Channable’s blog for the detailed marketplace breakdown and strategic context: https://lnkd.in/dT44_Fkq Hand on heart: Do you calculate your margins separately for Germany, Austria and Switzerland – or are they still sitting in one “DACH bucket”? #DACH #Marketplaces #EcommerceStrategy #CrossBorder #MarketplaceUniverse #Channable Stay informed and never miss a marketplace update by signing up for our “Marketplace Universe Weekly” NEWSLETTER at https://lnkd.in/dS6XANqB. Don’t miss any more Marketplace news!

Not every marketing venture is going to be immediately successful. Though that is generally what you’ll hear about, as we all like to share the things that have gone well rather than the things that were a flop, a slow burn or just a bit average. While we now have a very successful and efficient engine functioning in DACH, that wasn’t exactly the case when we first landed there. There was a fair amount of trial and error before we got it right. We made a combination of these mistakes: 1. Entering a market too quickly without deeply researching the ICP and nuances of it for the market 2. Our regional strategy did not go far enough 3. Scaled up spend over too short a time period But we learnt quickly and turned the ship around to grow DACH by 194% in year 2 of our expansion and have continued to reap the rewards, with marketing regularly bringing in 65-70% of the region's pipeline and revenue. Here’s how we did it: We took the time to build a dedicated regional media machine and demand creation strategy. DACH has it’s own: Podcast - we have a sales persona podcast called B2B Sales On Air that is in German, and features local influencers and subject matter experts. LinkedIn posting strategy - we share targeted posts to users in the DACH region, sharing insights from our DACH media machine, e.g. blog or podcast insights.  Blogs - not just translated copy from our UK blog, instead this is content created specifically based on the interests, needs and pain points for the region. Similar to the podcast, using insights from local SMEs. Live events - we run a series of live events in partnership with SDRs of Germany. Partners. We found SME’s and partners that mean something in the DACH region, building authority and audience share through these connections During the timeframe when we moved into DACH, the economy was booming and Cognism in general was in a ‘growth at all costs’ phase. As a result, we scaled our marketing campaigns from one day to another without full knowledge of our most efficient and effective channels yet. The benefit of this was that we learned very quickly and gathered enough data to scale back spend and get much more efficient. But at the time it did inflate our CPL. DACH is now one of our most efficient regions and rapid iteration and learning has helped to drive this performance. So while we did jump in before we were what we would now call ‘market ready’, it did mean we are now one of two major players in the market. You could say we failed fast, learned faster and now have a functioning arm of Cognism in DACH well ahead of other competition. #demandgeneration #b2bmarketing #euexpansion

EUROPE DOES NOT NEED MORE ROBOTS. IT NEEDS BETTER INTEGRATION. Many international automation companies believe Europe is just another sales region. It isn’t. It is a regulatory ecosystem. I have seen outstanding technology struggle here — not because of performance, but because of misunderstanding. European industry operates differently. Certification is not paperwork. It is liability architecture. Service is not an add-on. It is market entry. And investment cycles are measured in years, not quarters. You can disagree with European regulation. You can call it complex. But you cannot ignore it. In DACH especially, a machine is never just hardware. It becomes part of a tightly synchronized production environment shaped by DIN, ISO, CE conformity, documentation depth, operator liability and long-term service expectations. If one element is weak, trust disappears — and without trust, no project moves forward. And there is another misunderstanding I see repeatedly: Offering pure commission models for capital-intensive automation systems with 12–18 month sales cycles signals distance, not commitment. Europe is partnership-driven. Shared risk, shared responsibility, shared presence. That is how sustainable market access is built. But here is the important part: These challenges are not barriers. They are filters. Companies that take the time to understand the structure, work with experienced local experts and adapt their go-to-market strategy do not just enter Europe — they build stable, long-term positions. Europe is not hostile to foreign innovation. It is skeptical of unprepared expansion. Technology alone does not translate. Strategy does. Understanding does. Local insight does. The companies that succeed here are not the cheapest. They are the most aligned. Best regards Ulrich – The German Engineer #TheGermanEngineer #Automation #Robotics #IndustrialStrategy Picture is AI modified 😉 More facts, more automation, more robotics 🤖- less show.

The biggest mistake international vendors make in DACH They try to scale through sales teams. But DACH doesn’t scale through sales teams. It scales through ecosystems. Partners have built customer relationships over 10, 15, even 20 years. They know the CIO. They know presales. They know the architects. They know the politics inside the account. So when a new vendor shows up, the customer often asks: „Do you know them?” If the ecosystem says yes, the door opens. If the ecosystem says no, the deal is already in trouble. Because trust in DACH is not built through outbound sequences, global brand decks, or vendor promises. It is built through: Partners. Presales teams. REAL PEOPLE That is the real growth engine. If you want to win big in DACH, you cannot act like a lone vendor. You need to become an Ecosystem Leader. That means: EQ.Trust.Humility. Long-term relationship building. And it means leaving one thing behind: Vendor arrogance. Because no serious partner will risk a hard-earned customer relationship for a vendor who thinks they are the hero of the story. In DACH, the winners are not the loudest vendors. They are the companies that build trust, create value, and become part of the tribe around the customer. That’s the shift. Revenue in DACH doesn’t scale through lone sellers. It scales through trusted ecosystems. Channel Sales is the new Sales Engine. Follow me for more insights on Revenue Skills, Ecosystem Leadership, and Revenue Tribe. #EnterpriseSales #EcosystemLeadership #PartnerEcosystem #B2BSales #SalesLeadership #RevenueGrowth #GoToMarket #TrustEconomy #RevenueSkills #EcosystemSales #RevenueTribe #EcosystemLeadership

The fastest way to grow in a crowded market: Stop trying to serve everyone. Every B2B data provider brags about "830M B2B contacts." Nobody cares. Here's the outbound playbook I'd run if I were launching a new data provider today: 1. Own one market Generic pitch: "We have 830M contacts globally" Specialist pitch: "We have every German VP of Sales' cell phone" Pick ONE geography. ONE persona. Be the absolute best there. Let ZoomInfo have the world. You take Germany. 2. Focus on your strenghts Don't say: "You need better data" Say: "What's your ZoomInfo connect rate in DACH?" They already have a tool. Show them the gaps. Every generalist has gaps. That's your opening. 3. Lead with proofs Send 100 verified contacts: - Their exact ICP - Mobile numbers that actually work - Side-by-side comparison with their current tool "Here's 100 German SaaS VPs with cell phones, compared them to your ZoomInfo data. 4. Sell time, not only data Manual enrichment = $30K/year in wasted rep salary API integration = 10 hours/week back per rep "[Similar company] went from 15 hours/week enriching to 90 seconds automated. Their reps made 47% more calls." 5. Complement, don't compete The magic words: "Keep ZoomInfo for the US" You're not replacing their entire stack. You're filling the gap they already feel. - ZoomInfo for the US - You for DACH Position as: ZoomInfo AND you. Not ZoomInfo OR you. -- The lesson for any crowded market: Generalists promise everything, deliver 60% everywhere. Specialists promise one thing, deliver 95% there. In outbound, different beats better. And proof beats everything. -- Follow me 👨🍳 Elric Legloire for daily tips on scaling outbound

Over the past 4 weeks, we have tried 2 styles of Outreach in DACH that have been preached here on LinkedIn. At Sales in DACH, we are always eager to stay on top of trends and add Masterclasses to our Academy on relevant topics from TODAY! Here's what we’ve learned: 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 1: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗸 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗢𝗻𝗲 We used an AI based Software that sends out hundreds of emails/day to people that we assumed had the same problem. Result: 6% Booked Meeting Rate (way less than a few years ago when I started in Sales!) - Result: 0 Opps, 0 Revenue so far. 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗢𝗻𝗲 Our first Message was a Voice Mail on LinkedIn. No Text. The responses were super positive because they heard our voices which means it’s much easier to have a connection before setting up a call. Important Reminder: Be VERY clear about your ICP. Otherwise, you waste time on prospecting the wrong person. Result: 30%+ Booked Meeting Rate - Closed: TBD, 3 Mid-market deals + 2 Enterprise Deals about to close by the end of this month. Our Learning: The world is changing, and so are the people in it. We cannot stick to what worked 5 years ago, instead we can use what worked 5 years ago and grow with it. P.S. Wondering how I got the data? We’re using Pipedrive to analyse, calculate and succeed. try it for free here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTkdYwH8 

🇩🇪 Why selling in Germany has everything to do with trust (and no, your killer demo is not enough). If you're expanding to Germany and wondering why things feel slow or stiff - here's the truth: 👉 You’re probably underestimating how much trust matters here. Germans are not risk-takers. They want: ✔️ Clarity ✔️ Predictability ✔️ Proof you’re not going to disappear in 6 months. So, how do you build that trust? ✅ Local signals: A .de website, German-speaking contacts, and a local phone number make a huge difference. Even a virtual office address builds confidence. ✅ Show your team: I’ve seen conversion improve just by adding a photo of the German team or naming your contact for DACH. ✅ Customer quotes: Social proof is huge. German buyers love seeing testimonials — ideally from other German companies. Better yet: use trust labels like Trusted Shops. ✅ Transparency: If there’s a weakness, say it. Don’t oversell. It builds more trust to be honest than to pretend. And remember: once you earn trust in Germany, it lasts. 🇩🇪❤️ 👇 Want the full story — with examples and quick wins? 📩 Subscribe to my newsletter The international expansion playbook. It's your weekly playbook for expanding into Europe, written like a message from a friend. The link is in the first comment below 👇

We were 24 days into an experiment and saw: 20x more handraisers, 7x more pipeline, AND 2 won deals from the cohort The experiment? “I’m going to be presenting at Goldenhour in a few months. What would be interesting for me to share with US marketing leaders?” Tim Rath, founder of DACH marketing agency YOYABA, asked me this during a catch up a few months ago Little did we know at the time, but this simple question might have unlocked the next growth levers for both Tim (expanding into the US) + I (tapping into countries we previously struggled to penetrate) The US is a great market for us, but certain international markets have an even higher density of our ICP that we wanted to dig deeper into, such as Germany So when Tim asked me about a topic that could be interesting to US marketing leaders, I thought to myself that if this is a problem I’m looking to solve, I bet others in similar positions might be as well I explained to Tim that there were a handful of European countries that we were working on expanding into, but that the UK and Ireland were the only ones we were seeing meaningful growth in So we got into what we were doing (running US ads to these other countries, but with their own “EMEA” budget) and Tim stopped me after that, trying to hold back a laugh as he said: “It’s almost common practice that US companies clone their US playbooks for EMEA and for DACH. And it doesn’t work.” With this, Tim and I decided to help each other out in a win/win way We would work with Tim’s company to put this hypothesis to the test. What happens if a company that excels in the US wants to expand successfully into other countries, specifically DACH? NOTE: we weren’t starting from scratch. We already have strong product/market fit, have a dialed-in ICP, and know which messaging lands best. Using this, Tim’s team was able to build off of these foundational items to do what they do best From there, we did 3 key things together: 1) Localized the creative strategy Translate proven winners from English to German. But also applying the context of the culture We had big success with our recent “Bigfoot” campaign in the US, but in Germany, Bigfoot isn’t really a thing - and the team wasn’t scared to tell us that, so even though it did well in the US, it’s not relevant in Germany, so we took their recommendation and pulled it 2) Followed through on the experience It’s not enough to write the ads in German. What happens if they click on it? Are they sent to a landing page in English? (talk about a broken experience…) So they built out a localized landing page that matched the campaign 3) Constrained the execution - No other additive growth efforts or variables in play for Germany. Execution across all GTM efforts remained as they were in the period prior - Used one channel - Defined timeframe - - - - - - - - - - I shared the full story last Saturday in my newsletter - give it a read for the rest of the interesting insights + learnings