Go-to-market strategy for B2B in Belgium and the Netherlands: a practical plan
Tips
The short answer
A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is the plan for how a product reaches paying customers in a specific market. For a B2B company entering or expanding in Belgium and the Netherlands, the plan has to answer seven questions: which market and how large, which segments first, what positioning, which channels, what pricing, which sales motion, and which metrics. Three Benelux facts change the answers. Belgium works in two main business languages, Dutch in Flanders and French in Wallonia, with bilingual Brussels. The Netherlands and Belgium have different registers and different calling rules. And since 1 January 2026, invoices between VAT-registered Belgian businesses must be structured e-invoices.
Legal and statistical points below come from FPS Finance, Statbel, the Belgian Do Not Call Me register and Dutch legal commentary on the telemarketing rules, read on 1 October 2026. Examples are illustrative.
What a go-to-market strategy has to decide
A GTM strategy covers one product in one market and ends in decisions a team can act on next week. Order matters: positioning depends on the segment, channels on where that segment can be reached, and the sales motion on the price. Pick the segment before the channels.
1. Define and size the market
Start with a definition you can count: country, sector codes, company size and any hard requirement. Belgium had 1,187,819 VAT-registered enterprises on 31 December 2024 according to Statbel, but most of them have no employees, so the headline is not a buyer pool. How to size TAM, SAM and SOM with register data shows the filtering, and the Belgian business landscape in figures shows how companies split by region and sector.
Size the Netherlands and Belgium separately with the same filters. Then test the count against a few customer conversations; B2B market research covers how to run them.
2. Choose your ideal customer profile and segments
The ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the companies that buy fastest, stay longest and cost least to serve. Build it from your best existing customers, using criteria you can filter on: sector code (NACEBEL in Belgium, SBI in the Netherlands), headcount band, region, company age and legal form.
Cut the ICP into two or three segments and start with one. Make it small enough to dominate and specific enough that references carry: for example, a Dutch planning software company with 30 staff might start with Flemish logistics companies of 50 to 250 employees, not "Belgian SMEs".
3. Positioning and value proposition
Positioning answers one question: compared with what the segment does today, why are you the better choice? Name the real alternative (often a spreadsheet, an incumbent or doing nothing) and state the outcome in the customer's own terms. How to write a B2B value proposition gives a template and examples.
In Belgium, test the message in Dutch and French; translated copy is easy to spot.
4. Channels: outbound, inbound, partners, events
Channel | Best when | Benelux point to plan for |
|---|---|---|
Outbound (calls, email, LinkedIn) | A clear segment, a reason to reach out, deals worth a salesperson's time | Belgium: screen call lists against the Do Not Call Me register, which also covers businesses. Netherlands: calling sole traders and partnerships has required prior consent since July 2021, and since 1 July 2026 that covers existing customers too; calling a BV or NV is still allowed |
Inbound (content, search, webinars) | Buyers search for the problem and you can wait months for results | Separate Dutch and French content for Belgium |
Partners (resellers, integrators, accountants, consultants) | Your product sits in a workflow someone else owns | Local partners bring references and language coverage you lack on day one |
Events and trade fairs | Your segment gathers in one place | Sector federations differ per country; budget for follow-up, not just the stand |
Pick one primary and one supporting channel per segment. Spreading effort over four channels gives four inconclusive results.
5. Pricing and packaging, in brief
Price decides the sales motion: a product at a few hundred euros a year cannot carry a field salesperson. Three choices matter:
The value metric. What the price scales with (users, usage, sites or a flat fee). Pick the one that grows with the customer's value.
Packaging. Two or three plans with a clear reason to move up.
Presentation. Quote prices excluding VAT and state the billing basis, annual or monthly.
6. The sales motion: founder-led, SDR and AE, or product-led
Motion | How it works | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
Founder-led | The founder sells the first deals and writes down what works | A new country, few customers yet, objections still unknown |
SDR plus AE | SDRs open conversations and book meetings; AEs run and close deals | Contract values justify two people per deal and the segment is large |
Product-led growth (PLG) | Users sign up, try and upgrade; sales steps in for larger accounts | Low price, short time to value, no implementation project |
Hybrids are common: product-led for small accounts, sales-led above a threshold. Either way, keep the founder on the first deals in a new country.
Benelux specifics
The language split in Belgium
Belgium has four constitutional language areas: Dutch (Flanders), French (Wallonia), German (nine eastern municipalities) and bilingual Brussels-Capital. Covering the whole country means two sets of materials and people who sell in both languages. A Brussels address says nothing about the buyer's working language, so ask.
The Netherlands and Belgium are two markets
Registers. Belgian companies are identified by their enterprise number in the KBO, Dutch companies by their KVK number. Keep both fields in your CRM.
References. A Dutch logo helps in Flanders; a Belgian one helps more. Win the first local reference deliberately.
Separate targets. Set targets per country, so a strong Dutch quarter does not hide a stalled Belgian launch.
Peppol e-invoicing in Belgium
Since 1 January 2026, invoices between Belgian businesses subject to VAT must be structured electronic invoices, exchanged over the Peppol network. A Belgian entity or establishment must be able to send them from its first invoice. A foreign supplier without a Belgian establishment is outside the sending obligation, but its Belgian customers may still ask for Peppol invoices. The Peppol obligation in Belgium explained covers scope, exceptions and fines.
From segment to a named target list
Most GTM plans stall when the segment has to become real companies and people to contact. This is where Bizzy helps. It shows Belgian company data from the KBO register, filed accounts at the National Bank of Belgium and publications in the Official Gazette, and Dutch companies through Creditsafe data, so you can count a segment by sector, region and size and then work that same list. Push it to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Teamleader Focus or Odoo as new records or to complete existing ones. Plans start free; see pricing.
A one-page GTM plan template
Element | Question it answers | Illustrative example |
|---|---|---|
Market | Where, and how many companies fit? | Flanders, logistics and warehousing, 50 to 250 employees; counted from the register |
ICP and segment | Who buys first? | Multi-site companies that hired a new operations manager this year |
Positioning | Why us instead of the alternative? | Replaces spreadsheet planning with a tool running in Dutch within two weeks |
Channels | How do we reach them? | Primary: outbound with a trigger. Supporting: one sector event |
Pricing | What do we charge, on what basis? | Per site per month, excl. VAT, annual billing; two plans |
Sales motion | Who sells, how? | Founder plus one Dutch-speaking AE for the first 20 customers |
Local requirements | What must be in place? | Dutch materials, a Belgian reference, Peppol invoicing if billing from a Belgian entity |
Targets | What does success look like in 6 months? | Meetings, pipeline, deals and a first local reference |
The metrics to track
Track these per country and segment, monthly:
Pipeline created and pipeline coverage: open pipeline against target.
Conversion by stage, to see where deals stall.
Win rate and sales cycle length per segment.
Average contract value, to check the price carries the sales motion.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and payback period: cost per new customer and months to earn it back.
Net revenue retention once customers are a year old.
These numbers only mean something if marketing, sales and customer success count them the same way. That is the job of revenue operations; what RevOps is explains how teams set it up.
Frequently asked questions
What is a go-to-market strategy? The plan for how a product reaches paying customers in one market: segment, positioning, channels, pricing, sales motion and metrics.
What is the difference between a GTM strategy and a marketing plan? A marketing plan covers campaigns and content. A GTM strategy also decides who you sell to, how you price and who sells.
Should I launch in Flanders and Wallonia at the same time? Only if you can sell and support in Dutch and French from day one. Most companies start in one.
Do I need Peppol to sell to Belgian companies? Yes if you invoice Belgian VAT-registered customers from a Belgian entity or establishment. A foreign supplier without one is outside the sending obligation.
Photo: a harbour crane on the Scheldt quays in Antwerp, Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons