Translation Before Transaction
By Rob Napoli, Managing Director, Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce
Belgians and Americans frequently conduct business in English and leave the same meeting with different interpretations of what happened.
The American team believes there was interest and the Belgian team believes there was an introductory conversation. The Americans expect a decision but the Belgians expect more information.
Nothing was lost in translation at the level of language. The gap was in expectations.
As an American who has lived and worked in Europe, I have spent much of my career operating inside that gap. The differences are not absolute, and they should not be reduced to national stereotypes. But certain patterns appear often enough to affect how companies sell, negotiate, and build trust.
Confidence does not mean the same thing everywhere
American business culture generally rewards a clear statement of ambition. Leaders are expected to explain where the company is going, why it will succeed, and how large it could become. In Belgium, credibility is often communicated with more restraint. Expertise and technical knowledge are expected to speak for themselves, and excessive confidence can create suspicion instead of interest. These differences produce predictable misreadings.
Americans can interpret Belgian understatement as a lack of ambition and Belgians can interpret American confidence as a lack of substance. Crucially, neither conclusion is necessarily correct each side is signaling credibility the way they are used to doing so. The practical answer is not to imitate the other culture. It is to understand how your message will be received.
Speed can hide disagreement
American teams often try to establish momentum early. They schedule the next meeting, define responsibilities, and move toward a decision.
Belgian teams may spend more time testing the quality of the proposal and building internal agreement. Questions that appear technical may also be part of a broader process of establishing confidence.
This can frustrate both sides. Americans may view the pace as indecision and Belgians may feel they are being pushed toward a conclusion before the necessary work has been done.
The solution is to make the decision process explicit. Who needs to be involved? What information is missing? What would a successful next step look like? When can a genuine decision be expected?
Clarity is far more useful than assuming that everyone shares the same definition of progress and tangible next steps which incorporate technical elements can lead to a more fast paced decision that all parties feel comfortable with.
Politeness is not commitment
One of the more expensive mistakes in international business is treating a positive meeting as evidence of demand. Belgian professionals may be reluctant to reject an idea directly during an initial conversation and American teams, trained to look for momentum, can interpret courteous interest as a commercial signal.
The reverse also occurs. American enthusiasm may be part of an open exploration rather than an indication that a deal is imminent.
A strong cross-border operator learns to test interest without forcing it. They learn to ask questions like: Is there agreement on a specific problem? Will the prospect share data, introduce another stakeholder, or commit to a pilot? Has a date been set for a decision?
When all parties understand these differences it leaves the slate clean for commitment to appear through action, not tone.
Relationships are not separate from business
American executives frequently distinguish between networking and doing business. In Belgium, the relationship itself may be part of how the business is evaluated.
Who introduced the company? How long has it been active in the market? Does it understand the local context? Will its representatives remain involved after the agreement is signed?
These questions are not distractions from the commercial decision. Rather, they help establish whether the company will be a credible long-term partner.
At the same time, Belgian companies entering the United States cannot assume that relationships will compensate for an unclear value proposition or a strong pitch. American buyers may be willing to meet quickly, but they will also expect the company to explain its commercial relevance quickly.
Fluency requires adaptation
The best transatlantic leaders do not choose between a Belgian or American way of working. They learn to operate in both.
They know when to move faster and when to create space for consensus. They can communicate ambition without losing substance and provide detail without burying the commercial point. They understand that trust may be built differently, but it remains necessary in both markets.
International expansion is often described through legal structures, investment, logistics, and market size. Those elements matter. But companies are still built through human decisions, and human decisions are shaped by culture. That is why translation must come before transaction even (perhaps most importantly) when everyone is speaking the same language.
About the author
Rob Napoli is Managing Director of the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce, where he leads efforts to connect Belgian and American companies, entrepreneurs, and professionals. A business executive and entrepreneur with nearly two decades of experience across multiple industries, he has built transatlantic relationships throughout his career and spent several years living and working in Europe. Napoli is also an author, speaker, and podcast host focused on creating tangible opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.
