The advisory practice of Pieter Willems
LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE is the advisory practice of Pieter Willems — a senior independent commercial advisor working with B2B CEOs of businesses from €2M revenue upward.
This site is where the thinking lives. The essays collected here defend specific trade-offs about brands, categories, pricing, and the sales engine. Read what is here. Decide whether the way it is argued would be useful in your boardroom. Then take the scan.
FOR B2B CEOS WHO WANT THEIR SALES ENGINE BACK UNDER CONTROL
-- Growth is slowing — we feel it, even if the books haven't shown it yet.
-- Good customers are leaving — one by one, without us seeing it coming.
-- New leads no longer come in on their own — every deal has to be pushed.
-- Revenue depends on two or three people — if they stop, the business stops.
If 1 or 2 of these feel familiar, you're in good company. Most B2B leadership teams move from this to a sharper commercial engine within 18 months.
HOW THIS PRACTICE WORKS DIFFERENTLY
01
WORLD-CLASS FOUNDATION
4 Corners + 8 P's — the framework world-class companies use to steer their commercial engine. Every engagement starts from this same diagnostic structure.
02
20 YEARS OF OPERATOR PATTERNS
The advisory comes from twenty years inside AB InBev, Henkel, Mars — and a Business Markers track record across owner-led companies between €2M and €100M. Not academic theory. Operational pattern recognition.
03
STEP BY STEP, NOT EVERYTHING AT ONCE
Engagements run six to eight weeks, focused on the dimension that needs to be right first. Minimal lift on your team. Maximum focus on the choice the owner actually has to hold.
Not a revolution. A focused path — starting with what needs to be right first.
RECENT THINKING
PRICING & PROMOTION
The price of 1+1 promotions
On what Colruyt's shift to two-for-one offers does to A-brand pricing power — and why the trade-off rarely runs in the brand's favour.
BRAND STRATEGY
Why every boardroom needs a CMO
The long-term marketing argument for pricing power — and why the CMO who can defend it belongs at the strategy table, not below it.
CATEGORY & SHOPPER
The European Green Deal and Belgian retail
The gap between consumer sustainability claims and willingness to pay — and what it means for retailer margins and brand investment.
Twenty years in FMCG across sales, marketing, and category management.
AS AN OPERATOR
AS AN ADVISOR
As a Business Markers Partner, has co-led commercial strategy work for Lotus, Ardo, Chimay, Fides Petfood, Sigma Foods, Products & Brands, Xeryon, Laserflux, and others.
Family-led businesses and mid-market Belgian companies in food, beverages, and industrial systems.