There are many reasons to expand your business from the United States into the United Kingdom. Expansion presents new business and growth opportunities, revenue streams, and the potential to secure a bigger customer base.
However, success in the US market doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in the UK, and expanding your business into the UK can also come with complications.
Whilst the United States and the United Kingdom share a common language, the two markets differ in business culture, regulations, buyer preferences and consumer behaviour.
This goes beyond driving on different sides of the road and using the term ‘mobile’ instead of ‘cell phone’; what has worked for your business in one region won’t necessarily work for the other.
So, when expanding your GTM strategy, success in the UK market requires more than just translating your US playbook.
It necessitates a close understanding of business practices and a willingness to consider the key differences and complexities of each market in your GTM approach.
Let’s look at this in more detail. 👇
1. Understand the cultural nuances
Before expanding into the UK, it’s important to adapt your GTM strategy to any key cultural differences and nuances. These differences, whilst subtle, can impact how your offerings, sales and marketing strategies are perceived and received.
The US normally favours a direct, explicit, and to-the-point approach, whereas British communication often favours indirect language.
As Joe McLaughlin, Demand Generation Manager at Cognism, explained:
“In the US, the sales culture is a bit more intense. That means your sales team might initially struggle in the UK because UK selling is more relationship-based.”
“In the US, people are very open about making money in sales, so when we look into our messaging, we can be a lot more direct in that sense. That might mean directly using terms like ‘hit quota’ because salespeople in the US will react to that more positively.”
As Joe mentioned, prospects in the UK tend to favour relationship-building before closing deals.
Here, small talk is an important precursor to business decisions and is often used to build rapport. When expanding into the UK, you might train your teams to allocate time for relationship-building conversations before diving into business matters.
The UK also tends to see longer sales cycles than the US. So, instead of pushing for a quick close, consider this.
As Jonathon Ilett, VP of Global Sales at Cognism, shared:
“The US are far more to the point, and there’s a lot less fluff in sales conversations.”
“The UK is also more immature when it comes to selling, so you might have to guide that buying process a bit more. When it comes to leadership, you might want to hire someone familiar with these cultural nuances and can help guide your sales team and ensure these are reflected in your outbound approach.”
UK prospects also typically require a more formal approach. In email communications, make sure to address the prospect formally.
Frida Ottosson, VP of US Sales at Cognism, said:
“In the US, you can call anyone up and keep it super casual with a cold call opener like ‘Hey, how is it going’. That form of relaxed lingo is how people want to be spoken to in the US. They want to be spoken to as if you already know them. The UK requires a more formal approach."
What's the differences between selling in the UK versus in the US?
2. Understand different channel preferences
When prospecting in the UK, it’s also important to consider the different channel preferences.
In the US, sales reps and prospects prefer dialling, and more prospects are more willing to pick up the phone with potential sellers. As Frida added:
“In the US, prospects are very open to sales calls, and cold calling works. People are very willing to take a cold call and book a meeting. In the UK, this is seen as a bit weirder.”
In the UK, email is the preferred channel for engaging with new prospects, and this is a far more effective approach that needs to be considered when building your sales strategy.
However, regardless of location, sales teams don’t have to use one point of contact throughout the sales engagement process.
A combination of phone, email, live chat, and LinkedIn messaging is considered the industry’s best practice.
Frida said:
“Because of how crowded the market is, you need a multichannel approach—calling needs to be combined with emailing and LinkedIn. Many companies try to sell only through email and LinkedIn, but that’s not the best practice.”
“The best strategy I’ve seen is when sellers call a prospect within five minutes of opening your email. That grabs their attention.”
When expanding into the UK, consider testing new channels such as WhatsApp, as this is not an expected channel or app that people use in the US.
3. Understand the decision-making process
When expanding into the UK, it’s important to understand how the decision-making process might differ from what you’re used to in the US and incorporate this into your outbound strategy.
In the US, decisions are often made quickly and sometimes by a single authority figure.
In the UK, there’s typically more of an emphasis on consensus-building across different levels of the organisation, and UK businesses often have a more deliberate decision-making process.
Frida said:
“In the US market, you need to involve the decision maker early on and get to them immediately. You’ll want the decision maker to approve trial metrics, for example. It’s super hard to get a deal done in the US if you don’t talk to the decision-maker, and American culture is very hierarchical.”
“Whilst the US favours a top-down approach, in the UK, it’s a bit more of a consensus decision, so there might be multiple decision makers to reach out to. This also means we’ve seen shorter sales cycles in the US than in the UK, especially when it comes to enterprise sales.”
If your average US sales cycle is three months, you should plan for a 4-5 month sales cycle in the UK.
The UK sales cycle involves multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process. It demands a multi-tiered engagement strategy including materials and presentations tailored for different level decision-makers within an organisation.
In the US, there’s also often a higher tolerance for risk. UK businesses might be more risk-averse and more inclined to request trials before committing to a purchase.
When expanding your business into the UK, you might want to offer a structured trial program that demonstrates clear value and ROI for the client’s specific use cases.
Jonathon said:
“Companies in the UK are typically more reserved when it comes to purchasing, whereas in the US, businesses are a lot happier to send on software and are a lot more open to spending to see returns.”
“That means there’s a lot more you have to do in the UK to convince someone to purchase. You need to demonstrate a clear ROI, build a case and put a high ACV cost behind it.”
4. Change your approach to territory planning
The UK’s smaller geography means sales reps can cover more ground. This means you might consider assigning territories based on industry verticals rather than just geography.
Frida said:
“In the US, our territories are based on state and segment; in the UK, territories are based on segment and industry.”
5. Understand your pricing and value proposition
When expanding into the UK, be prepared for a potentially more reserved negotiation style. Focus on building value rather than aggressive discounting.
Instead of directly converting your US prices to GBP, thoroughly analyse UK competitors’ pricing and adjust accordingly. It’s also important to consider the competitive landscape and local market conditions when setting prices.
As Frida explained:
“In the US, we tend to quote slightly lower than in the UK, especially for smaller companies. This approach is necessary because the US market is so competitive and filled with low-cost providers.”
When building your GTM strategy, make sure to highlight your unique strengths in the context of the UK market. Tailor your value proposition to address UK-specific pain points and business objectives, which might differ from what you are used to.
Frida said:
“At Cognism, our B2B data is different in each region, so our pitch will also be different. Our selling points differ depending on your region.”
“Our mobile data in the US is particularly strong, so this is what we tend to focus on in our pitch. In the UK, we’re pitching the data sets as a whole. The UK also has better data in certain industries, so our leads are qualified differently.”
6. Review your competitive positioning
It’s important to be aware of your competitors in the UK and position your solution accordingly.
Frida said:
“European markets in general, but the UK market more specifically is a little bit younger when it comes to software sales than the US market.”
“So, your competitors in the UK will also be a bit different. Our main competitor in the US is not as prevalent in the UK.”
You might begin by identifying your direct and indirect competitors and which companies offer similar products within your industry. Then, you can evaluate how your product differs from your competitors, identify your USP for the UK market and position your solution accordingly.
Here, you might use Gong to record sales calls, search for specific competitor names and review how prospects perceive them.
You can support this by incorporating words and phrases from case studies or G2 reviews into your messaging.
You might also study your competitors’ marketing strategies, including the messaging on their sites, and review how they position their product offerings so you can tailor your messaging to local preferences.
Once you’ve done this, you can create a brief for your executives detailing the key takeaways about your competitors’ positioning compared to yours. Remember to lay out which personas you will speak to and focus on and how to address them.
Expanding into a new region also means you cannot rely on your brand as much as you’re used to.
Frida explained:
‘‘When you’re a bit more well-known and have the top position in the market, you can get straight into your pitch and start digging into your prospects’ needs and pain points.”
“When entering a new region, you will not necessarily be known as a market leader, so you need to focus on building a reputation. When it comes to your sales pitch, that means you are often starting from square one. Your primary focus will be educating your prospects, introducing yourself and your product and calling out your competitors.”
“That’s the fastest way we get someone to understand who we are. Then you might ask if they have any gaps with their data.”
Your demand generation channels and approach might be similar in the UK and the US.
However, because you won’t be able to rely on your brand as much as you’re used to, you might have to focus on bidding against your competitors, especially if you are entering a region with a clear market leader.
As Joe said:
“If you’re entering a market with a clear market leader, you need to focus on who you can take most of the market share from.”
“In the UK, we have had to adapt our Google Ads strategy to target more competitors and then build different campaigns for each of these competitors. We also have introduced a rip and replace offer.”
7. Define your ICP
When it comes to defining your ICP, customers in the UK might not have the same pain points and use cases for your product as they do in the US.
You might conduct ICP interviews to disprove any assumptions, understand how your product will fit into your customer’s working lives and learn how to market your product to their particular circumstances. Here are a few questions you might ask your ICP during your exploratory interviews:
- If you’re having a problem with (insert problem you solve here) where would you go for your information?
- What tools are you using for x, y and z?
- What does your current workflow look like?
- What content do you like to consume?
- What are the main challenges in your role?
- How do you like to be marketed to?
That way, you can communicate the value of your product or service to your ICP in a way that resonates with their pain points.
8. Track the metrics that matter
When it comes to tracking your sales performance, the US and the UK prioritise similar sales metrics.
However, when entering a new region, here’s what Frida had to say:
“There’s value in talking to someone and getting your name out there. If an SDR calls a prospect and informs them about who Cognism is and who our competitors are, and understands when the prospect is due for a renewal, we can learn a lot to help us try to influence their future contracts.”
“If you start building that flywheel, it will pay off. If I were to start in a new region, I’d think about that and create a compensation plan around these interactions.”
Liam Bartholomew, VP of Marketing at Cognism, added:
“The hardest part is setting yourself benchmarks to begin with - but you just have to estimate what success for you might look like at each stage of your business expansion.”
“Look at the market’s maturity, how many competitors are there, whether or not people are solution-aware and problem-aware.”
“Look through the funnel and at your key performance indicators. How many inbound demo requests are you getting? How many meetings are booked and attended? And then also looking at your engagement metrics.”
9. Utilise influencer and events marketing
Creating demand and building brand awareness is imperative when entering a new region.
That means leveraging subject matter experts to get your name out there. At Cognism, we leverage Morgan Ingram in the US, who has been instrumental in bringing his audience into our value loop.
When expanding into the UK, you can work with UK-based SMEs, whether internal or external, to reach new audiences, feed your media machine and gain awareness.
In the US, Cognism also leverages partnerships heavily to get its name in front of potential customers. This includes collaborations with LeanData, with whom we run conferences and dinners, as we typically share similar customer bases.
When expanding into the UK, collaborate with UK-based companies in the same industry to create content. Integrating with well-known players when you’re less known in the space adds legitimacy to your name.
When it comes to events, you’ll want to find the right ones for your industry and region; here’s what Joe had to say:
“B2B events tend to be more readily available in the US, and there are a lot more events that are more expensive and more competitive.”
“At Cognism, we attend Forrester, Dreamforce, Inbound, Ops-Stars and Collision, and in the UK, we attend the B2B Expo.”
10. Work with the right data provider
When expanding into the UK, selecting the right data provider is crucial. The tools and data sets that have worked for you in the US might not provide the best coverage in the UK, and you might opt to work with a local data provider instead.
💡 Here are the top data providers in the UK right now.
Here, you’ll want to prioritise providers with strong UK coverage that understand the local market nuances and maintain GDPR-compliant data practices and UK regulations.
This will help you define your target sectors, calculate TAM, and equip your sales team with accurate and up-to-date information on UK prospects.
Roxanne Taku, Head of EMEA Revenue Strategies and Operations at Airwallex, told us:
“When it comes to leading a regional operations strategy, there might be tools or data sets that have better coverage in EMEA than others. When it comes to enriching firmographics and professional information, we use Cognism, as they have the best coverage in Europe.”
11. Stay GDPR-compliant
The regulatory environment in the UK differs significantly from that in the US, particularly in data protection, financial regulations, and industry-specific compliance.
You’ll want to focus on these legal practices when expanding:
- GDPR and data protection.
- Employment legislation.
- Corporate taxation rates.
While many US companies are GDPR-aware, compliance is not universally required for domestic operations.
When expanding into the UK, ensuring strict compliance with UK data protection laws, including GDPR is critical.
The GDPR sets out ways for companies to process and protect the data they hold about their clients and potential customers.
Under Article 6 of the GDPR, six laws allow sales and marketing teams to use personal data:
- Explicit consent from the customer to use their data.
- To fulfil a legal obligation.
- To fulfil a contract with a customer.
- To carry out a task in the public interest.
- To protect the vital interests of an individual.
- To pursue a legitimate interest.
Remaining GDPR-compliant is a must for sales teams.
This is also something that needs to be reflected in your messaging, as Joe explained:
“In the US, we focus on having globally secure data, but in the UK, we have to talk about GDPR and think about compliance. We need to position our understanding of compliance with UK regulations as a real differentiator. This comes up way earlier in the UK, whereas the US is more relaxed.”
Adapting your US GTM playbook to the UK: Key takeaways
When expanding your business from the US to the UK, you cannot just replicate your US strategy and hope for the best.
The formality, directness, relationship-building, and decision-making process differ across each region, and what has worked for your business in the US might be received differently in the UK.
In addition, you might need to rethink your competitive positioning, pricing, and value proposition in this new market.
Your GTM strategy and approach must consider and reflect the cultural nuances, behavioural differences, consumer preferences, and regulatory and market changes.
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