Winning B2B customers in the Netherlands: the seven channels, what each costs, and where to start
Tips
The short answer
Winning customers in B2B does not work through one channel, and not through fifteen tips. It works through a system of seven channels that each have their own role, in a fixed order: first the customers you already have, then your network and partners, then the companies already visiting your website, then outbound with a trigger, and only then paid traffic and events. The order is the order of cost per customer: from almost free to expensive. Whoever works in the reverse order, which is what most SMEs do, pays the most for the customers who stay the shortest.
This page sets the seven channels side by side with what they cost, what they produce and what is allowed in the Netherlands since 1 July 2026. At the bottom is a plan for the first thirty days. If you are looking for leads rather than customers, the difference is in B2B leads in the Netherlands.
Customer acquisition, prospecting, lead generation: what do you mean?
Customer acquisition is the whole process from "this company exists" to "this company pays an invoice". Prospecting is the part where you make contact yourself, cold or warm. Lead generation is the part where you find companies with interest. The three are used interchangeably, and that is the first problem: a team whose goal is "win more customers" without saying through which channel measures nothing at the end of the quarter. Give each channel a number and an owner.
The seven channels, in order of cost per customer
Channel | What it costs | How fast | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Existing customers: more, again, and through them | Almost nothing | Weeks | Nobody calls after three months to ask who else has this problem |
2. Network and partners | Time, sometimes a margin | Months | Stays at coffee; nobody ever asks for a concrete referral |
3. Inbound through website and content | The site, the time, possibly an agency | Three to twelve months | Too little and not steerable week by week |
4. Identified website visitors | 49 to 499 euros a month for the tool | Days | Roughly 30% identified, the company and never the person |
5. Outbound with a trigger | Registers free, a database on subscription, hours | Weeks | Without a trigger it is spam; unlawful for sole traders and partnerships without consent, and since 1 July 2026 even if they are customers |
6. Paid channels (Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads) | 40 to 350 euros a lead, plus management | Days | Stops the day the budget stops |
7. Events and trade fairs | 150 to 400 euros a lead | Per edition | Follow-up waits until the business cards are lost |
The prices per lead for paid channels and events come from Searchlab (17 March 2026) and Leadworks, both parties that sell lead generation themselves; the detail and the agency rates are in outsourcing lead generation. The tool prices for visitor identification come from Leadinfo.
1. Start with the customers you already have
Three questions for every existing customer, once a quarter: can we do more for you, is there a sister department or sister company with the same problem, and do you know someone else who is dealing with this? The third question produces the best new customers of the year and is asked least. Make it a fixed step in account planning, with a date, not a good intention.
2. Turn your network into a channel, not a diary
A network wins customers when you ask it something concrete. Not "keep me in mind", but "do you know a manufacturer with twenty to a hundred staff that just hired a new operations manager?". The more specific the question, the more often the answer is a name. Partners work the same way: an accountant, an IT firm or a supplier serving the same customers refers you when you have referred first and when you say what you are looking for.
3. Inbound: slow, but the only channel that works at night
Pages that answer your customer's questions, in the words they use themselves, bring in requests after three to twelve months without anyone calling. It is the channel with the lowest cost per customer in the long run and the worst channel to start with this month. So start with it, and count on it only next quarter.
4. Companies already visiting your website
A script on your site identifies the company behind a visit, never the person, and shows which pages it viewed. Those are companies that already know you and that you can call with a reason. Which tools do it and what they cost is in website visitor identification tools.
5. Outbound, but only with a trigger
Cold calling without a reason no longer works, and in the Netherlands calling sole traders and partnerships without prior consent is not allowed (since 2021, and since 1 July 2026 not even when they are customers); calling a BV is. What does work: a list of companies that fit, sorted by what is happening at them. A vacancy for the role that uses your product, a new director, a move, more staff in the accounts. That trigger is the first sentence of the call. How to build the list is in how to build a B2B lead list; how to call, in B2B cold calling in Europe; what is allowed per channel, in cold outreach rules in Europe. For the Netherlands and Belgium, Bizzy supplies the company data, the contacts and the triggers on one record, so a salesperson does not have to research the list first.
6. Paid: fast, expensive and finite
Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads deliver requests within days, at 40 to 350 euros a lead, and stop the day the budget stops. Use them for what is bounded: a new region, a new product, a campaign with an end date. Work back from the order value before you start: at 200 euros a lead, one in four conversations and one in five closed, a customer costs 4,000 euros.
7. Events: the follow-up is the event
A trade fair produces business cards; customers come from what you do in the week after. Agree before the event who calls within two working days, with which trigger from the conversation, and record every contact with date and source. Without that agreement a trade fair is the most expensive way to buy a stack of cards.
The first thirty days
Week 1: call your ten best customers with the three questions. Write down what they share: sector, size, region. That is your target group.
Week 2: send ten concrete asks into your network and partners, with the target group from week 1 in them.
Week 3: set up visitor identification on your site and build a list of fifty companies with a trigger.
Week 4: call the list, with the trigger in the first sentence, and record every conversation with source and outcome. At the end of the month compare the channels on customers, not on leads.
Where do the won customers go? If you still run sales from a spreadsheet, our CRM comparison for SMEs shows what a pipeline costs from 14 euros per user.
For the outbound channels in this list, the method is in prospecting in the Netherlands: target profile, KVK-based list, a trigger per company, channel and follow-up.
Frequently asked questions
How do you win customers in B2B? Through seven channels in order of cost per customer: existing customers, network and partners, inbound through your website, identified website visitors, outbound with a trigger, paid channels and events. Start with the cheapest channel and measure customers per channel, not leads.
What is the cheapest way to win new customers? Asking existing customers for more work and a referral. It costs one call a quarter and produces the customers who stay longest.
What is the difference between customer acquisition and lead generation? Lead generation is finding companies with interest; customer acquisition is the whole process to the first invoice, including the conversation and the close. A team can generate many leads and win few customers.
May I still cold call in the Netherlands to win customers? A BV or NV, yes. A sole trader or partnership only with prior consent, which since 1 July 2026 applies even to existing customers. Email to legal persons usually needs consent. The rules are in cold outreach rules in Europe.
How much may a new customer cost? Work back from the order value and the margin. A rule of thumb: the cost per customer should not exceed the gross margin of the first year. At 200 euros a lead and the usual conversion rates a customer quickly costs 4,000 euros.
Read next: B2B leads in the Netherlands, how to build a B2B lead list, outsourcing lead generation and what is lead generation.
Photo: the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven across the water, HHahn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons