SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband

What SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband does

SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband is a Swiss professional association (Verein/Verband) headquartered in Winterthur and administered via unimarketing in Saland. It serves Fach- und Führungskräfte (professionals and executives) in technical customer service and after-sales across Swiss industries, providing cross-industry networking, continuing education, industry events, and benchmarking for what it describes as a fragmented service-management profession in Switzerland. The membership base comprises 500+ Swiss service professionals and executives, with selective access to a broader European network of 1,600+ members through long-standing partnerships with KVD (Germany) and KVA (Austria).

The core "products" are not technology platforms but professional-development artifacts: an annual portfolio of in-person events (Service Werkstatt workshop, Service Träff networking, Service Inside company visits, Service Forums, Field Service Management Award) plus a federally recognized study program (Leiter:in Technischer Kundendienst mit eidgenössischem Diplom) and a forthcoming Servicetechniker professional certification co-developed with TKK. Operational infrastructure is a WordPress-based website with member login, blog, newsletter archive, and event calendar; the association has no proprietary software, no apps, and no APIs.

Commercially, SKDV operates a non-profit membership-fee model (annual subscriptions, pricing not publicly disclosed), supplemented by per-event fees (CHF 50-120 per attendee) and Förderpartner sponsorship arrangements with vendors such as unimarketing, Service Manufacture, cencerus, SAP, cablex, XOR, kothes, LogObject, and coresystems. Its go-to-market is community-led, relying on member referrals, event-based exposure, co-branded education, and content marketing. Five people are employed directly; functions beyond that scope are outsourced to unimarketing, ZHAW (academic programming), SWISSMEM Academy (training delivery), and partner associations.

Name

SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband

Legal name

SKDV - schweizer service verband

Website

https://skdv.ch

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband is a Swiss non-profit professional association serving 500+ service-management professionals and executives with networking events, continuing education, and benchmarking. It operates cross-industry and connects to the largest European service-professional network via partnerships with KVD (Germany) and KVA (Austria).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saland

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: SKDV generates revenue primarily through membership fees. As a professional association for service management professionals in Switzerland, members pay dues to access networking, continuing education, events, and the professional community.
2. Event and seminar fees: SKDV charges attendance fees for workshops, seminars, and professional development programs such as the Service Werkstatt, the 'Leiter/in des Technischen Kundendienstes' preparation course, and other events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SKDV is a Swiss professional association (Verband) that provides networking, continuing education, industry events, and certification pathways for service management and customer service professionals across Switzerland. It connects over 500 service professionals through ERFA experience-exchange groups, working groups, and a calendar of events including Service Werkstatt workshops, Service Inside company visits, Service Träff networking, and the Field Service Management Award. Its flagship educational offering is the modular diploma program 'Leiter:in Technischer Kundendienst mit eidgenössischem Diplom' that prepares participants for a federally recognized Swiss certification.

Product overview

SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband (Swiss Service Association) is a professional membership organization for customer service and technical service professionals in Switzerland, not a software product company. The organization provides networking opportunities, continuing education programs (seminars and certification preparation courses), industry events (including the annual Service Werkstatt, Service Congress, and Maintenance Switzerland trade fair), knowledge sharing through blog content, and the Field Service Management Award. SKDV also facilitates ERFA-groups (experience exchange groups) and working groups for practical tools and methods. The association connects over 500 service professionals across industries including industry, medical technology, building technology, and more. SKDV partners with international organizations including KVD (Germany), KVA (Austria), and Swissmem to promote service excellence and professional development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SKDV Service Werkstatt: Annual workshop event series focusing on service transformation, digital topics, and practical skills development for service professionals
• Field Service Management Award
• SKDV Formate
• Service Inside

Quantifiable outcome

• Members gain access to a network of 500+ service professionals and the largest European service association network (KVD + KVA) with 1600+ total members.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, important and supporting.

• KVD (Kundendienst Verband Deutschland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSKDV maintains a close partnership with KVD, the German Customer Service Association. Through this cooperation, SKDV members gain access to the largest European professional association for service professionals. SKDV participated in the KVD Service Congress 2018 in Munich and collaborates on studies, events, and member exchange.
• KVA (Kundendienst Verband Österreich)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSKDV partners with KVA, the Austrian Customer Service Association. Together with KVD, this forms the largest European service professional network with over 1600 members. The partnership enables cross-border knowledge exchange, joint events, and shared educational resources.
• SWISSMEM AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSWISSMEM Academy is the training and education arm of Swissmem (the Swiss mechanical engineering association). SKDV collaborates with SWISSMEM Academy on professional development programs and hosted the SKDV Service Träff 2022 at SWISSMEM Academy in Winterthur. The partnership supports SKDV's mission to promote service-specific continuing education.
• TKK (Technische Kundendienst-Kammer Schweiz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTKK is the Swiss Chamber for Technical Customer Service. SKDV works closely with TKK on professional certification, including the 'Leiter:in Technischer Kundendienst mit eidgenössischem Diplom' program and the initiative to establish a formal 'Servicetechniker' certification in Switzerland. TKK organizes alumni meetings co-located with SKDV events at Maintenance Switzerland.
• ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften)importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerZHAW, specifically the Institute for Data Science and the Smart Services and Operations research group led by Prof. Dr. Jürg Meierhofer, collaborates with SKDV on academic research, conference content (Maintenance Switzerland 'maintenance talks'), and knowledge sharing. ZHAW provides scientific rigor to SKDV's educational offerings and event programs.
• FIR an der RWTH AachensupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIR (Institute for Operations Management) at RWTH Aachen University collaborates with SKDV on events such as the Aachener Dienstleistungsforum and the Data Innovation Alliance. FIR contributes academic research capabilities and international conference programming.
• CallnetsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCallnet is the Swiss industry association for Contact Center and Customer Contact Management. Listed as a partner organization, Callnet provides expertise in customer contact and call center operations that complements SKDV's focus on technical customer service.
• unimarketingsupportingOthersunimarketing serves as the administrative office for SKDV, providing management, hosting, and operational support. The SKDV address is listed as 'c/o unimarketing'. unimarketing also appears as a sponsor (Förderpartner) of SKDV, providing marketing and communication services.
• unimarketing (Förderpartner)supportingGTM or Marketing Partnerunimarketing is listed as a Funding Partner (Förderpartner) of SKDV with the tagline 'Mit dem richtigen Ton bringen wir Ihre Produkte und Leistungen ins Gespräch'. They sponsor SKDV events and contribute marketing expertise.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TKK - Technische Kundendienst-Kammer Schweiz: The Swiss Chamber for Technical Customer Service, and SKDV's closest domestic peer. TKK co-develops the 'Leiter:in Technischer Kundendienst' certification with SKDV and focuses on the same technical service management profession in Switzerland.
• KVD - Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland: The German customer service association and SKDV's primary strategic partner. Like SKDV, KVD is a membership-based professional association for service executives with a comparable event and training portfolio, but operates in a larger (1,000+ member) German market.
• KVA - Kundendienst-Verband Österreich: The Austrian customer service association, co-member with SKDV and KVD in the tri-national European service network. KVA offers similar networking, events, and certification activities targeted at Austrian service professionals.

Emerging players

• ICMI (International Customer Management Institute): Global community and training organization for customer service and contact center professionals. ICMI overlaps with SKDV on customer service management topics but specializes in contact center operations rather than technical/field service.
• The Service Council: Global executive network for service leaders. The Service Council targets a similar executive audience to SKDV but operates as a digital-first, for-profit membership community rather than a traditional not-for-profit association.
• Swissmem Academy: The training and education arm of Swissmem (Swiss mechanical engineering industry association). Swissmem Academy provides continuing education and seminars for the manufacturing sector that overlap with SKDV's Weiterbildung offerings, particularly for industrial service technicians.

Broad incumbents

• AFSM International: Global association for services management professionals. AFSM operates a broader geographic and functional scope than SKDV (covering IT, business, and shared services globally) but targets a similar professional population of service executives.
• itSMF Schweiz: Swiss chapter of the IT Service Management Forum. itSMF serves a similar professional-development and certification function in Switzerland but is focused on IT service management rather than technical customer service / after-sales service.

Regional players

• Servicetechniker-Berufsbildung Switzerland (TKK-led initiative): The TKK-led national initiative to establish a formal service-technician vocational profile in Switzerland. As a co-developer of SKDV's certification strategy, this is a closely-related program targeting the same Swiss service-technician population.
• Callnet: Swiss industry association for Contact Center and Customer Contact Management. Callnet is a regional peer operating in the same Swiss market but focuses on the contact-center subsegment of customer service rather than technical/field service.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/skdv_ch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzMZF2Q5LmzRF8eNmz9Z6MA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skdv
• Facebookfacebook.com/skdv.ch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 SKDV - Der Schweizer Serviceverband