From student vibes to scalable service: Suzanne Mittendorff’s CX journey at Swapfiets
In the world of bike subscriptions, customer experience is not just about having a bike – it’s about freedom, convenience, and the confidence that problems will be solved quickly. That promise has been at the heart of Swapfiets from day one. But as the company expanded into eight countries and dozens of stores, the question became: how do you deliver a consistent, professional experience everywhere?
For Suzanne Mittendorff, Head of Customer Experience, that became her mission: building scalable standardization without losing the energy and friendliness of the brand.
Who is Suzanne Mittendorff?
Suzanne is 37 years old, studied economics, and started her career in banking. At De Bijenkorf she first experienced CX in a retail environment. Four years ago, she joined Swapfiets, where she became responsible for both store experience and the complete customer service operation across eight countries.
“Swapfiets is, at its core, a service company. We don’t sell bikes – we promise an always-working bike, without hassle.”
She leads the Swapdesk (customer service) and drives central initiatives to improve store experience. Purchases happen online, service via app, phone or WhatsApp – so CX is integrated into every process.
Understanding the brand: Swapfiets
Swapfiets was founded ten years ago by three students in Delft who wondered why owning a bike involved so much hassle. Their idea was simple:
✔ a fixed monthly price
✔ an always working bike
✔ Swap handles the repairs
They started with 100 second-hand bikes – which were rented out instantly. Today, Swapfiets has 280,000 customers across eight countries and 45 cities, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Austria, France and the UK.
The target group expanded from students to young professionals and e-bike users. Employers now also offer Swapfiets as a mobility benefit.
The challenge: rapid growth without consistency
In the early years, priority was expansion: more cities, more bikes, more stores. But that created a risk:
- each store did things differently
- customer experience depending on who worked that day
- messy counters, dead plants, duct-taped posters
- screens installed but turned off
- conflicting experiences between store and customer service
“Everyone delivered awesome service, but without global standards. That stops working when you grow and offer e-bikes for your professionals.”
The solution: SwapCares principles and self-service that works
Suzanne and her team created service standards and the SwapCares principles to guide employee behavior: Connect, Aware, Respect, Extra Mile and Smile
To make this real, she launched service masterclasses, mystery visits, Store of the Year Awards, service ambassadors and scorecards.
“You can’t explain it once. You need repetition. People need to see it, practice it, and celebrate it.”
By analyzing data, Suzanne discovered that many customer questions were preventable. Swapfiets built solutions such as a scheduling tool to plan appointments, clear invoice explanations, and product videos.
The result: 30% fewer customer contacts – without reducing human service.
Lessons learned & advice for CX professionals
- Start with consistency:
Set the foundation before scaling. Clear service standards and behaviour guidelines ensure customers receive the same experience no matter where or when they engage with you. Structure protects your brand from growing “messy.” - Involve frontline teams early:
Your teams know which processes confuse customers and where friction actually happens. When they help shape the solution, adoption is faster and the fixes are more realistic. - Follow-up matters more than launch:
A CX change doesn’t succeed in a workshop — it succeeds on the floor. Continuous coaching, visual examples, and celebrating small wins keep momentum alive long after the kick-off. - Self-service + human service must coexist:
Customers want convenience and autonomy, but they also want reassurance that a person is there when needed. Offering both reduces contact volume and increases trust.
Final thoughts
Swapfiets began as a student project with 100 bikes. Today it is an international service organization where CX is the core of the customer promise. “The best moment is seeing a blue bike wheel in the city and thinking: this works. That’s what we do it for.”