Communicating with customers and prospects is critical for the success of any business. Yet, more than three-fourths of German businesses (78%) report that they’ve lost out on deals or lost customers due to their inability to reach customers and prospects by phone.
The cost associated with those unanswered calls is significant. Businesses estimate that they lose, on average, €43,075 per year from missed opportunities when they can’t connect with their customers by phone.
Those are some of the findings from Hiya's State of the Call 2026 report, based on a survey of 12,000 consumers and 3,600 business professionals across 6 countries: Germany, the UK, Spain, France, the US, and Canada.
"Have you ever lost a customer/deal because you could not reach them by phone?" showing 78% Yes, 18% No, and 4% Don't know.
"In terms of losing business or opportunities because of unanswered calls, how much, if anything, do you estimate this costs your business annually?" Average cost: €43,075.
Businesses losing more than money
Failure to reach customers and prospects by phone leads to more than just lost revenue. Businesses report that it also reduces customer retention, harms the company’s brand reputation, increases operational costs, and has several other adverse effects.
"How, if at all, has your business been impacted by not being able to reach prospects/customers efficiently by phone?
German consumers don’t want to answer unidentified numbers
Why don’t Germans answer calls from businesses — even if they are a customer of that business? Often it’s because the call comes in from an unidentified phone number. If consumers see a phone number they don’t recognize, they don’t know if it’s a spam call, a scam call, or a call from someone they actually want to talk to.
In fact, 87% of Germans don’t answer unidentified phone numbers. Instead, they will either reject the call immediately, or ignore it and let it go to voicemail where they can check the message later.
"Consumers: When you receive a call from a number you don't recognize, what is your default action?" Results: Ignore it and wait to see if they leave a voicemail 34%, Reject/Decline the call immediately 31%, Google the number while it is ringing 15%, Answer immediately to see who it is 13%, Other & Don't know 6%.
It’s no wonder that Germans are reluctant to answer unidentified calls. Among consumers surveyed, 12% reported that they had lost money to a phone scam in the past year. The average amount lost was €749 — the second highest amount among the six countries surveyed.
Consumers want businesses to identify themselves
How can businesses get through to the people they call? 69% of German consumers say that businesses should identify themselves in caller ID when they call. And the one piece of information that would make them most likely to answer is to see the verified business name when the phone rings.
"Consumers: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: 'Businesses should identify themselves in caller ID when they call me.'" Results: Disagree 10%, Neither agree nor disagree 21%, Agree 69%.
"If a business is calling you, what, if any, single piece of information would make you most likely to answer?" Results: Seeing the verified business name (e.g., "Delta Airlines") 22%, Seeing that the number has not been flagged as spam by my carrier 21%, Seeing the location of the caller 15%, Seeing the specific reason for the call (e.g., "Flight Change Alert") 14%, Other, please specify 1%, Nothing would make me most likely to answer 26%.
How can German businesses reach their customers?
Our survey shows that businesses want consumers to answer their calls, and consumers want businesses to identify who is calling them.
Here's the problem: most businesses have no idea how their calls actually look on a customer's screen. The same number can show the business name on one network and nothing at all on another, or get flagged as spam outright. Because most businesses have no visibility, their calling teams keep dialing, keep tweaking the pitch, and keep missing the actual issue: their calls were never set up to be recognized in the first place.
Fortunately, Hiya can show you exactly how your calls are appearing on networks across Germany, so you can fix it before it costs you another deal.
→ See how your calls appear across German networks and devices
If the display of your calls is inconsistent across devices and networks, you should consider adding branded caller ID. Branded caller ID enables businesses to display their name, logo, and reason for the call directly on the recipient’s phone screen. Businesses that use Branded Call must go through a vetting process, so consumers can be assured they are being called by a legitimate business that has been verified.
Hiya partners with all three major telecommunications companies in Germany: Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and o2 Telefonica, so Hiya Branded Call can be seen by nearly 100% of German mobile subscribers. It’s easy to set up, and no technical integration is required.
Hiya’s Branded Call enables German businesses to display their name and reason for the call directly on the recipient’s mobile phone screen.
Don’t let revenue slip away because your important calls are going unanswered. Learn more about Branded Calling or contact one of our representatives in Germany.
%20-%20Feature@2x.jpg)
