The short answer
Upselling means selling an existing customer more of what they already buy: more seats, a higher tier, a larger volume or a longer term. Cross-selling means selling them a different product that solves a neighbouring problem. In B2B account management, both work best at three moments: once the customer can name the result your product delivered, at the renewal review, and when something changes at the company, such as headcount growth, a new establishment, an acquisition or a new director. Find candidates by combining three lenses: usage (are they near a limit?), fit (do they look like customers who buy more?) and triggers (did something just change?). Put the offer in a written amendment aligned to the existing contract, and never make the renewal depend on it.
This is a method guide: the examples are illustrative, not real customers. The contract points come from the Belgian Code of Economic Law as summarised by Loyens & Loeff, read on 1 October 2026, and are general information, not legal advice.
Upselling and cross-selling, defined with examples
Upselling | Cross-selling | |
|---|---|---|
What you sell | More of the same, or a better version of it | A different product or service next to the current one |
Typical forms | Extra users, a higher plan, a larger volume, a longer contract, a premium service level | An add-on module, a complementary service, a second product line |
Software example | A Ghent logistics company with 40 staff moves from 10 to 25 licences of your planning tool when it opens a second depot | The same company adds your route-optimisation module |
Services example | An office cleaning contract grows from three to five days a week | The same customer adds window cleaning or washroom supplies |
Who usually decides | The current user or budget holder | Often a different department, so a new contact |
That last row matters: an upsell extends a relationship you have, while a cross-sell often means reaching a new person, which is closer to a new sale. Both usually sit with the account manager, who owns the relationship after the first deal.
When to offer more
After value is proven. A customer still onboarding hears an upsell as "you sold me the wrong thing". Wait until they can say what the product changed for them; that sentence opens your offer.
At renewal. Both sides look at the whole contract anyway. Start well before the notice deadline, so the customer can budget for an extension instead of feeling cornered.
At a trigger. A change at the customer creates a need your current contract does not cover:
Trigger | What it changes | Typical offer | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|---|
Headcount growth | More users, more volume | Upsell: seats, volume, higher tier | Vacancies; FTE and new hires in the filed annual accounts |
New establishment | A new site to equip, connect and service | Upsell to cover the site; cross-sell services it needs | Establishment units in the KBO |
Acquisition or merger | Two sets of tools and suppliers to consolidate | Extend your contract to the acquired company | Restructuring publications in the Official Gazette |
New director or manager | Someone who reviews suppliers and budgets | A review meeting first; an offer once priorities are clear | Gazette appointments; job changes on LinkedIn |
An establishment unit is a separate registered place with its own number, so a customer adding one is visible before the new site is busy; how establishment units work explains the register side. For acquisitions, how to track mergers in Belgium shows where the proposal is published weeks before the deal closes. A trigger can also cut the other way: a new owner may consolidate onto a competitor's contract, so treat it as a reason to call, not only a reason to sell.
How to find expansion candidates in your customer base
Use three lenses, and start with customers that score on more than one.
Usage. Seats close to the licence limit, volumes above the contracted level, features used heavily, support questions asking for something you already sell. Usage tells you the need exists.
Fit. Customers that look like your accounts with several products (same sector, size, number of sites) but buy only one. A simple grid of accounts against products shows the empty cells.
Triggers. The changes in the table above. Triggers tell you the timing.
Usage lives in your own systems; triggers happen outside them, which is where teams lose track. In Bizzy, a Belgian customer's legal entity record shows its establishments count from the KBO register and its Official Gazette publications, such as appointments and restructurings, while Signals shows dated job changes sourced from LinkedIn. In the website visitor view, a Customer flag marks visiting companies that already buy from you, so an existing account reading your pricing page stands apart from new prospects. The CRM integrations can then complete the existing records in HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Teamleader Focus or Odoo, so the account manager sees the change next to the contract. The eight B2B buying signals covers how to weigh each signal.
An account-review template
Run this per key account once a quarter, and always before a renewal.
Section | What to fill in | Example |
|---|---|---|
Contract | Products, quantities, price, renewal date, notice deadline | 10 licences, plan B, renews 1 March, notice by 1 December |
Value delivered | The result the customer names, in their words | "Planning takes one person instead of two" |
Usage | Use against the contracted level | 10 of 10 licences active, two shared logins |
Whitespace | Products that fit but are not bought | Route optimisation, driver app |
Triggers | Changes since the last review | New establishment in Kortrijk; new operations manager |
People | Sponsor, budget holder, users, new names | Sponsor unchanged; budget holder not yet met |
Risk | Open issues, late payments, signs of churn | One open support ticket |
Next step | Offer, owner, date | Propose 8 licences for Kortrijk, co-termed, by 15 November |
Track the outcome over time: expansion revenue and net revenue retention belong among your sales KPIs, and each successful expansion raises the customer lifetime value you can afford to spend on winning similar accounts.
Pricing and contract considerations
Co-term the add-on. Align the extension to the existing renewal date and prorate the first period, so the customer has one contract and one renewal, not several.
Decide on the discount. If the original deal carried a discount, say whether it applies to the extra quantity. Silence here becomes a dispute at the next invoice.
Check the signing entity. After an acquisition or in a group, confirm which legal entity signs and is invoiced, with its enterprise and VAT number, and whether you want a group agreement or separate contracts.
Put it in writing. A signed amendment or order form, not an email "yes", with the new quantities, price and effective date.
Know the Belgian B2B rules. Book VI of the Code of Economic Law (articles VI.91/1 to VI.91/10) applies to contracts between enterprises concluded, renewed, extended or amended from 1 December 2020 (financial services and public procurement excepted). Clauses that let one party change the price, characteristics or terms unilaterally without a valid reason, and tacit renewal of a fixed-term contract without a reasonable notice period, are presumed unfair. An upsell amendment to an older contract brings that contract under these rules, so review its price and renewal clauses when you amend it.
What not to do
Upsell during onboarding. Finish the first promise before making a second one.
Offer more to an unhappy customer. Open escalations or late payments come first; an offer on top reads as ignoring them.
Make the renewal conditional on the add-on. It turns a routine renewal into a negotiation you may lose entirely.
Pitch a new director on day one. Let them settle in, ask what they want to change, then propose.
Blast every customer with the same cross-sell. Pick the accounts where usage, fit or a trigger gives a reason.
Sell what the customer will not use. Shelfware inflates this year's number and returns as churn at the next renewal.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between upselling and cross-selling? Upselling sells more of the same product or a higher version of it, such as extra users or a premium plan. Cross-selling sells a different, complementary product, such as an add-on module or an extra service.
What does upselling look like in B2B? Typically more licences, a higher tier, a larger volume, a longer contract or a better service level, agreed with the budget holder in a written amendment to the existing contract.
When is the best time to upsell a B2B customer? Once the customer can name the result they got, at the renewal review, or when a change such as headcount growth, a new establishment, an acquisition or a new director creates a need the current contract does not cover.
Who is responsible for upselling and cross-selling? Usually the account manager or customer success manager who owns the relationship. A cross-sell to a new department can involve a salesperson, because it often means a new decision-maker.
Photo: a gilded shrine in the Basilica of Our Lady in Tongeren, Kleon3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons