Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V.

What Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V. does

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V. (KVD) is a German national professional association (eingetragener Verein, registered at Amtsgericht Gelsenkirchen, VR-Nr. 13601) focused on technical service (Kundendienst / technischer Service). Headquartered in Dorsten, Germany, and led by Geschäftsführer Carsten Neugrodda, the association connects service executives, service managers, young professionals, and partner companies across German manufacturing and industrial sectors. Its core purpose is to share practitioner-relevant knowledge, surface trends, and strengthen service organizations through peer exchange, research, and events.

KVD's product surface is organized around member services and content. The flagship asset is the annual Service Congress (2026 edition scheduled for November 4-5), supplemented by recurring free Online-Expertenforen on topics such as sustainability reporting, AI in service, and end-to-end service processes. Knowledge products include the ServiceToday specialist magazine, the registered ServiceRadar® whitepaper series, the KVD TrendRadar annual research publication, the ServicePodcast, the weekly ServiceBlog, the KVD Weekly impulse video series, and the SERVICENEWS email newsletter. Membership is structured into four tiered programs (Service Executive, Service Manager, Young Professionals@KVD, PowerWomen@KVD), and a separate Förderkreispartner program accommodates 20+ corporate partners including SAP, Roland Berger, Solvares, Panasonic, Liferay, and others.

KVD operates as a non-profit association and earns revenue through membership fees, event ticketing, knowledge product subscriptions/publications, and partner sponsorship fees. The organization does not build proprietary software platforms; its digital presence is hosted externally and delivers content and a member portal through standard web technologies. Distribution is direct-to-professional and direct-to-organization, primarily through the KVD website, the LinkedIn page, and event registrations. The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, with content marketing (podcast, blog, newsletter, whitepapers) fueling top-of-funnel awareness and the annual congress plus working groups (Arbeitsgruppen) driving retention. The association has no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no external investment ownership structure.

Name

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V.

Legal name

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V.

Website

https://service-verband.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V. (KVD) is a German national professional association for technical service that connects service executives, managers, young professionals, and partner companies through its annual Service Congress, working groups, research publications (ServiceRadar, TrendRadar, ServiceToday), and tiered membership programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Knowledge Management & KCS Programs (BPAEAJAJ)

Keywords

• Professional association services
• Technical service management
• Industry networking events
• Membership association
• Industry research publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Dorsten

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: KVD generates revenue primarily through annual membership fees from individual and organizational members (service organizations, service executives, service managers, young professionals). Membership provides access to the member portal, working groups, and member-exclusive content.
2. Event and conference revenue: Revenue is earned from the annual Service Congress (ticketed attendance) and potentially other fee-based formats such as Online-Expertenforen, though many Online-Expertenforen are offered free of charge.
3. Knowledge products and publications: KVD publishes the ServiceToday specialist magazine and ServiceRadar whitepapers; some content may be available for purchase or as member-exclusive resources. The organization also conducts research (KVD TrendRadar) that may be sold or licensed.
4. Partner program and sponsorship: KVD maintains a partner program (Förderkreispartner) where companies pay to be listed as partners and gain visibility at events and on the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V. (KVD) is a non-profit professional association that sells tiered memberships (Service Executive, Service Manager, Young Professionals@KVD, PowerWomen@KVD, KVD Partner) to professionals and organizations in Germany's technical service sector. Members gain access to peer working groups, the annual Service Congress conference, recurring Online-Expertenforen, the ServiceToday trade magazine, the ServiceRadar® whitepaper series, the KVD TrendRadar research publication, a mentoring program, and the member portal at service-verband.de.

Product overview

Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V. (KVD) operates as a professional association for the technical service industry rather than a traditional product company. The KVD offers a portfolio of member services including annual conferences (Service Congress), online expert forums (Online-Expertenforen), content platforms (ServicePodcast, ServiceBlog, SERVICENEWS Newsletter), research publications (ServiceRadar®, ServiceToday magazine, KVD TrendRadar), and professional development programs (Mentoringprogramm, Research services). Membership programs are tiered for different professional levels: Service Executive, Service Manager, Young Professionals@KVD, and PowerWomen@KVD. The association also facilitates networking through working groups and partner programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Membership Programs (Service Executive, Service Manager, Young Professionals@KVD, PowerWomen@KVD)
• KVD Service Congress
• KVD Online-Expertenforen
• ServiceRadar® Whitepaper Series
• ServiceToday Trade Magazine
• KVD TrendRadar Research
• KVD Mentoring Program (Mentoringprogramm)
• KVD Förderkreispartner Program

Quantifiable outcome

• KVD TrendRadar surveys industry practitioners to identify key trends; 82% of surveyed companies agree that ethical data handling is more important than economic benefit (KVD TrendRadar 2024 data point). 88% agree that data selection and utilization is the biggest challenge for digital business models.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KGcoreTechnology or IntegrationSAP is listed as a KVD Förderkreispartner (sponsor/partner), appearing in the partner logo section of the website. The partnership provides KVD members with access to SAP's service management technology ecosystem and thought leadership content on digital service processes.
• Roland BergercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoland Berger is listed as a KVD partner. As a strategic management consultancy, Roland Berger contributes expertise on service strategy, digital transformation, and market trends, supporting KVD's research and event programs.
• All for One GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll for One Group (specifically Director Andreas Hödl and Johannes Mühlhöfer) is featured as a speaker and co-host of the KVD Online-Expertenforum on End-to-End processes in service, using SAP Intelligent Sales & Service Cloud, SAP ERP S/4, and SAP FSM.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BITKOM e.V. Germany's largest digital-industry association covering topics that overlap with KVD's digital service, AI, and transformation content, but at a much broader scope and with substantially greater resources and political influence — a comparable incumbent, not a niche specialist.
• VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau): Germany's engineering federation representing machinery and equipment manufacturers — directly overlapping with KVD's industrial service membership base, particularly for field service and after-sales. Operates service-specific working groups that partially substitute for KVD's value proposition.

Regional players

• BME (Bundesverband Materialwirtschaft, Einkauf und Logistik e.V.): Germany-focused association for purchasing, logistics, and supply-chain management — same eingetragener Verein structure, events, content, and tiered membership as KVD, but serving an adjacent industrial function rather than competing head-to-head on technical service.
• GS1 Germany GmbH: German affiliate of the global GS1 standards organization, providing membership, training, content, and events for supply-chain and industrial firms. Operates a similar hybrid association/standards body model relevant to service-industry members alongside KVD.

Direct peers

• itSMF Deutschland e.V. The German chapter of the IT Service Management Forum, operating as a eingetragener Verein with membership tiers, working groups, annual congresses, and practitioner publications — structurally identical to KVD but focused on IT service rather than industrial technical service.
• DSAG (Deutschsprachige SAP-Anwendergruppe e.V.): Largest German-speaking SAP user group, structured as a registered association with annual congress, working groups, publications, and tiered membership — mirrors KVD's operating model and overlaps substantially on SAP-driven service-management content delivered through KVD partners like All for One Group.
• DGQ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Qualität e.V.): German quality management association that operates a similar model: registered Verein, tiered individual and corporate membership, working groups (Fachkreise), a practitioner magazine, and recurring regional events — closest non-service-specific analogue to KVD's structure.
• AFSMI (Association of Field Service Management Industries): Global industry association for field service management professionals, producing research, awards, and an annual flagship event. Directly comparable to KVD's field-service and technical-service focus but operating at international rather than German-only scale.

Emerging players

• Field Service News (WBR / Field Service Forum): Specialized media and events platform focused exclusively on field service management — produces research, awards, and a recurring international conference that draws on the same practitioner pool as KVD's Service Congress, representing a global, vendor-adjacent competitor to KVD's flagship event.
• ServiceNow Community (Now Community / Community.servicenow.com): Free, vendor-funded global practitioner community for ServiceNow's field-service and customer-service modules — directly competes for the time and learning budget of the same service-management personas KVD targets, with a much larger free content library and event ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/serviceverbandkvd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e.V.