How to Get International Clients: A Five Step Method for Agencies

To get international clients, pick one foreign market where your proof travels, adapt your offer and outreach to it, and use a controlled channel, usually outbound, before investing in a local presence. Win three to five clients there, turn them into local case studies, and only then expand to the next market.

Referrals built most agencies, and referrals are local. An agency that has exhausted its home network reaches the same ceiling whatever the quality of its work, as our piece on why referrals stop scaling explains. That is usually the moment founders start asking how to get international clients, and why so many look abroad for their next stage of growth.

Winning international clients is not the same as winning local ones in another language. It needs a market choice, an adapted offer, a lawful channel and a delivery model the client trusts. Here is the five step method.

1. Pick one market where your proof travels

Your first international market should be the one where your existing case studies mean the most. A Finnish agency with strong SaaS results travels well to Swedish SaaS. A German agency specialising in manufacturing travels well to Austria, provided it plans around Austria’s stricter outreach rules.

Choose one market, not a region. Score the candidates on four things: how many ideal clients each has, how relevant your proof is there, whether you can serve it in its language, and whether its business culture matches how you already work. Our guide to entering the Nordic market shows the same scoring in detail.

2. Localise the offer, not only the language

International clients buy the same outcomes as local ones, but they compare you with local agencies. Make that comparison easy:

• Price in local currency, and understand how VAT works for cross border services. Within the EU, business to business services are usually invoiced under the reverse charge mechanism, but confirm the treatment with your accountant.

• Show local proof as soon as you have it, even from a single client.

• Adapt the offer to local norms. Retainer lengths, reporting habits and notice periods differ between markets.

• Name your working hours and time zone overlap before the client asks.

3. Reach buyers in their language

English works in much of Northern Europe. In the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, the Netherlands ranks first among the countries measured, with the Nordic countries, Austria and Germany close behind. But reading English and preferring English are different things. Outreach in the buyer’s language is read more often, and a native first line in an otherwise English email is a cheap signal of commitment. Never use machine translation without a native review.

4. Use a controlled, lawful channel

Referrals do not cross borders easily, and inbound takes a year or more to build in a new market. Outbound is the channel you control from the first week, but the rules differ sharply by country. Business email outreach is generally allowed in Sweden, Finland and the UK, depends on the address in Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, and needs prior consent in Denmark, Germany and Austria. Check whether cold email is legal in your target market before building the campaign, and use phone, events and partners where email is closed.

5. Deliver remotely with confidence

The objection international clients rarely say aloud is whether a foreign agency will be responsive. Answer it before they ask:

• A named contact with guaranteed response times.

• Meetings in their time zone, and in their language where possible.

• Reporting they can forward to their own management without editing.

• One visit in person early in the relationship, if the contract justifies it.

What to avoid

• Launching in three countries at once.

• Translating your website and calling it localisation.

• Presenting case studies from your home market as if they were local proof.

• Emailing named contacts in markets where the law requires consent.

• Hiring a local salesperson before you have local clients.

International growth is one answer to the plateau described in why agencies stop growing, and it works best when outbound is already a habit at home, which our piece on whether agencies should do their own outbound covers.

The test. Before expanding, ask whether a buyer in the new market would choose you over a good local agency, and why. If the answer is your specialism, your proof or your price, you have a reason to go. If the answer is only that you want to grow, fix your positioning at home first; our guide to niching down your agency is the place to start.

Want to test a new market before you commit to it? See what our clients say, or book a call.

Frequently asked questions

How do agencies get international clients?

By choosing one foreign market where their existing proof is relevant, adapting their offer and outreach to that market, and using a controlled channel such as outbound to start conversations. After winning a few clients, they build local case studies and use them to expand further.

Should my agency expand to several countries at once?

No. Expanding to several markets at once spreads effort too thin to learn anything clearly. Win three to five clients in one market, build local proof, then use that proof and the lessons learned to enter the next. The second market is almost always easier than the first.

Do I need to speak the client’s language to win international clients?

Not always. English works in much of Northern Europe, where proficiency is among the highest measured. But outreach in the buyer’s own language is read more often, and local language matters more outside the capitals and in traditional industries. Use native speakers, never machine translation alone.

How should an agency invoice clients in other EU countries?

In local currency where possible, with VAT handled correctly for cross border services. Business to business services within the EU are usually invoiced under the reverse charge mechanism, where the client accounts for the VAT, but rules have exceptions, so confirm the treatment with your accountant before sending the first invoice.

Is cold email allowed for finding clients abroad?

It depends on the country. Business email outreach is generally allowed in Sweden, Finland and the UK, depends on the type of address in Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, and requires prior consent in Denmark, Germany and Austria. Check the rules for each market before building a campaign.