THE RESULTS OF THE AUDIT & COMPETITION “CUSTOMER SERVICE OF THE YEAR 2025” ARE AVAILABLE

On November 6, 2024, the time had come again: for the fifth time, companies were honored for their particularly high customer service quality in their respective industry as “Customer Service of the Year 2025”. At the award ceremony at the Gibson in Frankfurt, a total of 16 winners from different categories were honored with the award. In order to receive the seal, the competition participants had to meet two criteria: firstly, they had to achieve at least 55 out of 100 possible points in the overall ranking of the audit and secondly, they had to be the strongest company in the respective category. The seal is only awarded once per sector in order to maintain exclusivity for the winners. The competition also takes place in Spain, England, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Austria and Switzerland. Every year, hundreds of companies across Europe are awarded the honorary prize.

The 16 winners of the “Customer Service of the Year 2025” award

Union Tank Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG – UTA – Flotten- und Mobilitätsmanagement

-            Bike Mobility Services GmbH -  Lease a bike - Dienstradleasing

-            Smart Europe GmbH - smart - Automobil

-            Abbott GmbH - Diabetes Care - FreeStyle Libre - Medizinprodukte

-            Telefónica Germany GmbH & Co. OH - o2 - Telekommunikation

-            Michelin Reifenwerke AG & Co. KGaA - Michelin - Reifenhersteller

-            IONOS SE - IONOS - Hosting-Dienstleister

-            kauf-unique.de – kauf-unique.de – Möbelhandel

-            Immobilien Scout GmbH – ImmoScout24 – Immobilienportale

-            Credit Plus Bank AG – Credit Plus – Kreditbank

-            Edenred Deutschland GmbH – Mitarbeiter-Benefits

-            Hamburger Sparkasse AG – HASPA – Bank

-            Lidl Kundenservice GmbH & Co. KG – Lidl - Discounter

-            HD Plus GmbH – TV-Streaming

-            RAJAPACK GmbH – RAJA – Verpackungslösungen

-            DHL Express Germany GmbH – Versanddienstleister Technischer Support

The test phase

Companies from 18 categories took part in the mystery requests from May 21 to July 26, 2024. More than 8,020 tests were carried out over a period of 10 weeks. The customer experience was measured in detail based on up to 15 criteria, such as the evaluation of basic soft skills, the quality of the exchange and the waiting time or accessibility.

During the test phase, mystery testers confronted the participating companies' customer service teams with a test series of 225 inquiries in total. These were divided into 125 calls, 45 email inquiries, 30 internet navigation tests (incl. login area & app), 10 social media inquiries and 15 chat inquiries.

Customer service as a success factor

Where customers feel comfortable and experience good service, they will buy again. In the annual study, Customer Service Barometer 2024*, over 90% of consumers agreed with the statement that good service has an influence on repeat purchases.

This is also the view of the award winners. Andreas Müller-Vondey, Managing Director of HD Plus, knows that customer service is an important mouthpiece between consumers and companies: “Customer feedback is the toughest and most honest assessment we receive about our products and services. And very few people get in touch to say that everything is great. Anyone who contacts customer service usually has a problem that needs to be solved or is dissatisfied with the service. I am therefore all the more delighted that we have been honored with the “Customer Service of the Year 2025” award in the “TV Streaming” category. This recognition underlines the fact that we don't leave our customers out in the rain, but instead provide them with solution-oriented support. We often talk about outstanding products. Excellence in customer service is at least as important.” Dr. Gesa Crockford, Managing Director and Board Member at ImmoScout 24, is also convinced that the “feeling” that a brand should convey is largely based on the work of the service team: “For us at ImmoScout24, customer service means more than just providing answers - it's about giving every customer the feeling that they are really being heard and understood. The “Voted Customer Service of the Year” award makes us proud because it shows that this is exactly what our customers experience. The competition was a valuable journey: Not only did we receive confirmation, but we also understood through direct feedback how we at ImmoScout24 can respond to our customers' needs in an even more personal and empathetic way. This award spurs us on to put our heart and soul into every contact every day.”

Results in detail

The most successful participant performed particularly well in the overall results across all channels. With an overall performance of 88 out of a possible 100 points, furniture retailer Kauf-Unique.de leads the ranking. The highest score of the entire competition was achieved on the Internet channel, where Michelin performed with 98 points.

Across all participants, the average overall result was 66 points. The average of all award winners is 74 points. Overall, the results of the participants range from 43 to 88 points. These results include both successful and unsuccessful tests. For example, on the e-mail channel, the test is aborted if the request is not answered after 6 days. The test then receives 0 points and is included in the final score with a negative weighting. The “unsuccessful” tests are an important indicator of a company's accessibility. At this point, the competition has shown that good accessibility separates the wheat from the chaff and was often decisive for better overall results on the respective channels. This was particularly evident for many companies on the telephone and email channels. Similar to last year, it can be concluded that one of the biggest challenges for many companies is still accessibility.  

Average performance of all participants per channel (test year 2023 vs. 2024)

2023: Internet navigation: // 2024: 92 Internet navigation: 92

2023: Telephone: 69 % // 2024: Telephone: 66 %

2023: Email: 59 % // 2024: Email: 64 %

2023: Social media: 72 % // 2024: Social media: 60 %

2023: Chat: 57 % // 2024: Chat: 53 %

Average accessibility of all participants per channel (test year 2023 vs. 2024)

2023: Internet website: 100 % // 2024: Internet website: 100 %

2023: Telephone: 86 % // 2024: Telephone: 83 %

2023: E-mail: 76 % // 2024: Email: 81 %

2023: Social media: 86 % // 2024: Social media: 78 %

2023: Chat: 72 % // 2024: Chat: 70 %

Among the participants, the Internet navigation channel again leads the ranking this year with 92 percentage points. This is followed by the telephone channel with 66 percentage points. Chat brings up the rear (53 percentage points). Despite improved accessibility, this still proves to be the contact medium with the greatest potential for optimization across all participants. In live chat, as well as in communication with the chatbot, the personal elements in particular, such as addressing the customer by name, can be further expanded. In terms of accessibility, chat is the weakest of all channels, although, according to the “Customer Service Barometer 2024” study (consumer study on customer service usage), it is used by many customers precisely because of its uncomplicated accessibility. The requirement for a “feasible test” for chat is to speak to an employee within 3 minutes of opening the chat window. Many companies were unable to meet this requirement.