How to book B2B meetings in Germany

Can you send cold B2B email in Germany?

This is the first thing to get right, because the rules are stricter than most teams expect.

Plain words, not legal advice:

• UWG, the unfair competition law. Section 7 treats email advertising without prior express consent as unreasonable harassment. SRD Rechtsanwälte, email marketing without consent notes this applies whether the recipient is a person or a company.
• No B2B shortcut. For phone calls, "presumed consent" can apply to businesses. For email, it does not.
• GDPR. You need a lawful basis to hold someone's data. But Overloop, is cold email legal in Germany? 2026 is clear: a documented basis for the data does not by itself allow an advertising email.
• LinkedIn is not email consent. The same source notes that accepting a LinkedIn invite is not consent to receive advertising by email.

The real risk is not a fine from a regulator. It is an Abmahnung, a formal legal warning, often from a competitor, with legal costs attached.

So in Germany we start on LinkedIn. Email comes once the person has asked for it.

Xing or LinkedIn?

LinkedIn, for almost every B2B campaign in 2026.

Leadscraper, Xing vs LinkedIn for B2B sales 2026 reports LinkedIn passed 26 million members in the DACH region in February 2025, against about 21 million on Xing. It also notes that Xing has focused almost only on jobs and recruiting since 2023, with group feeds switched off.

DataReportal, Digital 2026: Germany counts 24.0 million LinkedIn members in Germany alone, about 34% of adults. Older owners of family firms may still keep a Xing profile. Check it, but do not build a campaign on it.

How formal should you be?

Formal at first. Always.

• Use Sie, not du, if you write in German. Wait for them to switch.
• Use Herr or Frau and the surname. Keep "Dr." if they use it. It is part of the name here.
• English is fine in tech, logistics and international firms. For the Mittelstand, the family-owned middle market, German often gets a better reply. Have a native speaker check it.
• No hype. "Game-changing" and "revolutionary" read as a warning sign. Say what you do, for whom, and what changed.

What does a German buyer want to see?

Facts and proof. A German reader wants to know three things fast: who you are, why you are writing to them, and what the evidence is.

A good first message names one concrete problem in their industry and asks one clear question. No emoji. No "quick call?". No false urgency.

A training firm campaign our founder led in Germany worked this way. It sent 2,315 LinkedIn invitations, 36.1% were accepted, and the reply rate was 36.8%. That became 22 meetings and 5 closed deals.

How fast do Germans reply?

Slower than Singapore or the US, in our experience. But a reply usually means something.

German buyers read, think, and sometimes check with a colleague before they answer. A reply after ten days is normal. When it comes, it is often a real question or a real no.

What that means for you:

• Space follow-ups a week or more apart.
• Keep each follow-up useful: a fact, a short example, a relevant article.
• When they reply, answer the same day, with the detail they asked for.
• Expect questions about data handling, contracts and who does the work. Have the answers ready.

Which weeks should you avoid?

Germany has nine public holidays in every state. Bavaria has 13 in total, and other states have 10 to 12 (IamExpat, German holidays 2026 and 2027). On top of that, Destatis, leave days actually taken reports workers took 31.0 days of leave in 2023.

The slow stretches:

• Easter. Good Friday 26 March to Easter Monday 29 March 2027.
• May. Ascension Day on 6 May and Whit Monday on 17 May 2027. Many people take the Friday after Ascension as a bridge day.
• Summer. School holidays run from late June to mid September, with dates that differ by state. Decision makers with children disappear for two or three weeks.
• Christmas to New Year. Almost nothing moves from about 20 December.

Best windows: mid January to mid March, June, and September to November.

Questions people ask