The most frequent reply to a prospecting email here is nothing. And nothing is the only reply that never says why.
The silence has a cause to check before rewriting everything
The working language is not the postcode
A company based in one region does not necessarily work there in that region's language. Head office may be elsewhere, the marketing team may be bilingual, the manager may have been recruited from the other community. The postcode is therefore a weak clue, and yet it is the one almost everybody bets on.
English is a third option, not a compromise
Writing in English neutralises nothing: it simply indicates that you did not know, or did not look. In some sectors, notably technology and large organisations, it is perfectly accepted. In local retail, catering or crafts, it immediately places you outside.
The person reading is not necessarily the person buying
The first reader is often somebody whose job is to sort, not to decide. Your message therefore has to be forwardable: short enough to be passed on as it is, clear enough for the decision maker to understand in ten seconds what it is about, without reading the previous exchange.
Read the language before writing
Seven clues to check in two minutes, before any send.
The language of the site, and above all that of the default version.
The language of the legal notices, often more reliable than the home page.
The language of published job adverts, a very solid clue to the internal working language.
The language of the latest social posts, more recent than the site.
The domain name, whose extension and spelling sometimes say a lot.
The language of customer reviews, which reveals the real audience.
And the language used in the contact's signature, if you have already been in touch.
Where the lists actually are
Seven sources of prospects, from fastest to most lasting.
Public company registers, which give the sector and the head office.
Marketplaces where local brands sell, with product pages to improve.
Regional trade fairs, whose exhibitor lists stay online.
Sector federations, which publish their members.
Shops already producing content, and therefore convinced of its usefulness.
Brands running paid advertising, identifiable and budgeted.
And local agencies, which buy regularly and pay faster than people think.
What the first message has to contain
Seven elements, and nothing else.
A first sentence about their product, not about you.
A precise reason why you are contacting them in particular.
An example visible in one click, with no password.
A concrete proposal, a batch of three videos rather than a vague collaboration.
A price or a range, which almost nobody writes and everybody looks for.
A real availability date.
And a single question at the end, answerable with yes or no.
The follow-up that gets a reply
Six chasing rules suited to this market.
Chasing once, seven days later, never three times.
Replying in the same thread, without retelling the story from the start.
Adding new information, not a polite repetition.
Explicitly offering to be passed on to the right person, which often unblocks the situation.
Accepting silence after the second attempt, and coming back in six months.
And noting the language the person uses when they reply, information that holds for every subsequent time.
Three routes to a first client
| The route | Typical delay | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Answering listings | One to three weeks | A complete profile |
| Writing to local brands | A month | A video of their product |
| Going through a referral | Immediate | One successful delivery |
What works particularly well here
Bilingual outreach. A given brand receives few messages offering both languages of the country, and it is the fastest argument to make in a first approach.
What makes a message ignored
No price, an off-topic sample, and text that is visibly copied. Three flaws fixed in five minutes that explain most of the silences.
When you cannot decide
Five solutions when no clue is enough.
Sending both versions in the same message, dealt with above.
Choosing the site's language and owning it, offering to continue in the other.
Writing in the person's language if their name appears in a recent publication.
Going through a shared contact, which settles the question without asking it.
And telephoning, which almost nobody does any more and which settles the language in three seconds.
One last marker: in Belgium, an absence of reply is rarely a commercial refusal, it is almost always an addressing problem. Fix the language and the recipient, and the same message you are already sending will start getting replies, including the noes, which are useful information too.
