"Bigger market" thinking creates lazy execution

The assumption behind most Dutch-to-German expansion goes like this: "We've proven this works in the Netherlands. Germany is right next door, culturally similar, and five times the size. We'll translate the site, adapt the messaging a bit, and scale."

In practice, this means:

• Copy-pasting your Dutch funnel and swapping the language

• Running the same ad creative with German voiceover

• Assuming your value proposition translates 1:1

• Treating localization as a translation problem, not a strategy problem

The result? You're optimizing for volume when the real issue is friction.

Your Dutch website is built to create a vibe, establish relatability, and invite people into a relationship. It works in the Netherlands because Dutch buyers are comfortable making decisions based on trust that develops during the conversation.

German buyers don't operate that way. They need clarity and proof before the conversation even starts. Without it, they don't move forward, not because they don't like you, but because you haven't given them what they need to decide confidently.

And here's the dangerous part: without someone who owns the German market, not as a side project, but as their primary responsibility, Germany becomes what I call "hope marketing." You're spending on ads, translation, maybe even influencers. But no one is accountable for whether this actually matches how Germans make decisions.

The Netherlands sells with vibes. Germany buys with certainty.

Let me be clear: this isn't about Germans being "cold" or "formal" while Dutch people are "warm" and "friendly." That's a tired stereotype that misses the point entirely.

It's about when in the buyer journey different things matter.

The Dutch funnel typically works like this: Relatability → relationship → trust → purchase

You show up as human, approachable, maybe a little informal. You build rapport. Trust develops through the interaction. The decision feels collaborative.

The German funnel works like this: Clarity → proof → trust → relationship → purchase

Germans need to understand what you do, for whom, and with what outcome before they're willing to engage. They want to see evidence that you've done this before and that others vouch for you. Only then does trust start to build. The relationship comes after the decision feels safe.

This is why "gezelligheid" as a strategy often backfires in Germany.

When your Dutch homepage opens with a friendly team photo, a casual "Hey, we're here to help you grow!" message, and an invitation to "just have a chat and see if we click," Dutch visitors read that as approachable and trustworthy.

German visitors read it as vague and unserious.

Not because friendliness is bad but because friendliness without structure feels like you haven't thought things through. It raises questions instead of answering them:

• Grow how? With what methodology?

• Who have you done this for before?

• What happens if it doesn't work?

• Who's responsible for what?

Germans want to know "what happens if…" before they care who you are.

And here's the twist: once you do provide that clarity, warmth works beautifully. Germans aren't allergic to personality or humor. They just need the foundation first. Friendly and precise beats loud and casual every time.

Think about it this way: Dutch brands often hide constraints because they don't want to seem inflexible. German buyers respect boundaries. Telling them "we're not a fit if you need X" or "this works best when Y is in place" doesn't scare them off, it builds confidence that you know what you're doing.

What Dutch teams must resource differently for Germany

If you're serious about Germany, here's what actually needs to change - and it's not just budget.

Time

German buyers take longer to convert. This isn't a bug; it's the system working as designed. They're doing more research, comparing more options, and involving more stakeholders.

If your Dutch sales cycle is lets say 2-4 weeks and your German sales cycle is 6-10 weeks, that's not a performance problem. That's normal. But if you're measuring German success against Dutch benchmarks, you'll think you're failing when you're actually right on track.

Proof

Case studies, certifications, third-party reviews, technical specifications: in the Netherlands, these are nice-to-haves that add credibility. In Germany, they're prerequisites.

You can't charm your way past this. Germans want to see that someone outside your company has validated what you're claiming. They want to know the specs, the edge cases, the limitations. Not because they're skeptical of you specifically, but because this is how they reduce risk.

If your German content answers "who are we?" but not "what we do if something goes wrong?" or "who's responsible if it does?"- that's your gap.

Localization depth

This isn't about translating words. It's about reordering the argument.

Your Dutch landing page might be structured like this:

1. Hero: "We help companies grow"

2. Team photo + story

3. Our values

4. What we do

5. Customer logos

6. Contact

A German visitor looking at that page is thinking:

• What kind of growth? Revenue? Market share? Efficiency?

• For which type of company?

• What's your methodology?

• Who have you done this for?

None of those questions are answered in the first three sections. So they leave.

The localization work isn't rewriting everything, it's restructuring so that the information Germans need to keep reading comes first, not last. Move the proof up. Lead with scope, not aspiration. Answer objections before they're asked.

Ownership

You can't do Germany "on the side." Someone has to own the German buyer journey - not just manage translations or field German inquiries, but actually understand how German decision-making works and build the systems to support it.

Without that ownership, you get fragmented execution. Marketing runs German ads to a Dutch-structured landing page. Sales assumes the German prospect is just "slower" without realizing the content didn't give them what they needed. No one connects the dots.

A better question than "How do we scale?"

A better question than "How do we scale?"

Most Dutch founders ask: "How do we get more German traffic? More German leads?" That's the wrong question. The right question is:

"How do Germans decide and does our content support that process?"

Because here's what I see over and over: brands spending thousands on German ads, driving traffic to pages that look fine but structurally don't match how Germans evaluate options.

The traffic comes. The bounce rate is high. The time-on-page is low. And the founder thinks, "Germans just don't get it" or "We need better targeting."

No. You need better alignment.

Growth in Germany doesn't come from increasing the noise. It comes from reducing the friction between how you present your offer and how Germans need to receive it.

Here's a pattern I see repeatedly: Dutch companies with solid products and clear messaging struggle with German conversions, not because their offering is weak, but because their proof points are in the wrong place.

Case studies buried in the footer. Certifications hidden on an "About" page. Technical specs saved for a PDF download. Meanwhile, the hero section leads with vision and personality.

For Dutch visitors, that works. They're willing to scroll, explore, and piece it together.

For German visitors, that's friction. They need the proof upfront to decide whether it's worth their time to keep reading.

The fix isn't rewriting everything, it's reordering the argument. Same content. Same language. Different structure.

Move the proof higher. Answer "who have you done this for?" before "who are we?" Lead with methodology, not just mission.

That's the shift. Not more. Not louder. Just matched to how the market actually decides.

Are you willing to do Germany properly or just translate and hope?

Here's the reality check: entering Germany with a "let's test it and see what happens" mindset rarely works - not because testing is bad, but because casual testing in a market that requires structural changes just burns budget and creates false negatives.

You'll conclude "Germany doesn't work for us" when the real issue was "we didn't set Germany up to work."

If you're genuinely committed, if you have the resources, the timeline, and the willingness to do this differently instead of just bigger, Germany is an incredible opportunity.

But it requires you to let go of the assumption that what worked in Amsterdam will work in Munich just because the countries are neighbors.

Germans don't decide like Dutch buyers. They don't evaluate like Dutch buyers. And your content needs to reflect that, not fight it.

If your German performance feels flat and you're not sure whether it's a traffic problem, a positioning problem, or a structural one - let's talk.

I help Dutch brands pressure-test their content and strategy against how Germans actually decide. Not by rewriting everything from scratch, but by showing you where the friction is and what needs to shift.

Schedule a discovery call to see if we're a good match and what you actually need to make Germany work.