21 Sales Tips for Building Trusted Relationships in The Middle East

Essentially in business we are here to sell something to a customer, to sell value, deliver value and then re-sell more value. Building business in the Middle East requires much more than responding to a tender, preparing an excellent pitch or honing your Unique Selling Proposition.

Traditional sales skills have to be enhanced and embroidered with more subtle, softer skills that embed an understanding of culture, political and the socio-economic environment as well as each business leader you meet.

Selling in the Middle East is not simply about a value exchange or a sales process that can be achieved with a tick box list of sales best practice. Building trusted relationships are the bedrock and the basic entry point to be invited onto the field of play.

Here are my 21 tips for helping develop trusted business relationships in the Arab world.

1. Respect and Resonance – Understand the cultural norms and behaviours that are all pervasive. Wonderful heritage, history and culture abound in the Middle East and it is a pleasure and a journey to discover them yourself and immerse yourself within. Demonstrating respect and understanding of the culture is really only common courtesy and your entry card to being warmly welcomed in return.
2. Personal First – Develop personal relationships and treat all individuals as individuals and friends. The Arab people and culture is all about individual friendships and relationships. So relationships first and business second. Remember first, second and third, that all business is personal.
3. Do Your Research – Always get to know the person from associates and intermediaries before meeting a business leader. Knowing all about them and being able to drop into conversation topics that they are interested in, is always helpful. Keep one or two stories or anecdotes in your back pocket to share and break the ice.
4. Patience – Relationships flow into common interests and helping each other. This takes time and the normal sales process does not apply in the Middle East. Decisions take longer, dialogue meanders and flows in all directions. There is not a straight line decision making process you would recognise. You cannot short circuit this elongated dance. Be prepared to take time, use patience and be ready for de-tours and what appear to be closed loop discussions. Patience is perhaps the most valuable virtue you can demonstrate throughout your business and social life living and working in the Gulf.
5. Be Charming – Be polite, be charming, be complimentary and be caring. The Arab people pride themselves on be great hosts and resonate with those that are similarly charming.
6. Respect The Language – Arabic is a wonderful historic language and locals are very proud of this. Picking up some local phrases to drop in to show your respect and resonate with your host in any meeting is always welcome.
7. Look For Synergy - The best way to approach a partnership is to look for commercial synergy between the two organizations and intellectual synergy between the people from both parties. How do you compliment your client and how does your business compliment the clients company and what difference will it make to them to be aligned with your firm?
8. Clear Expectations – Make things simple and easy for your clients and make things clear. Make sure that you and they are clear on what they expect from you and what you are going to do and what you are going to deliver for them. Despite the meandering and detours there will be an expectation that you will deliver them great value. Fine to promise the earth but you must define exactly what that is and remember no matter what the contract says, the bedrock of business is relationship, friendship and trust. You have to deliver the earth once you have promised it. An Arab leader of any business will want your personal commitment to get the job done and deliver what you promise and what they believe you have promised. The spirit is as much import (and in addition) to the detail.
9. Your Word is Your Bond – In the Middle East although contracts and legal process is important, your client will expect any legal document or contract to have a safety net of friendship and relationship. Your word counts and is your bond, once you shake hands on a deal they expect you to follow through and deliver.
10. Clear Roles – In delivering what you need to deliver you will need to know what they can deliver to you to enable you to perform your service. Do not over-estimate the ability and quality of information, data and capabilities within a clients organisation to provide to you with the things you need to do your bit. In-experienced or na?ve western executives can often fall at this hurdle. This can lead to over promising and under-delivering. Be careful not to tread on this land mine.
11. Regular Contact With Leadership - Always keep your senior client up to date with what is going on. Give them good and bad news first as quite often the middle management will be saying that everything is fine. Let them know of issues that they can help with and bottlenecks so that you get their support whenever things go wrong. You must ensure you secure and maintain mindshare with the leadership at all times. You do not want to be stuck in bottlenecks with middle-managers and other staff who you are finding difficulties in working with.
12. Face To Face – Personal communications are best and the best way is always face to face. Emails and letters are considered as impersonal and not as appreciated as a personal visit. If you cannot make a face to face then do a phone call. Keeping in personal touch is important – as all good friends do.
13. Non Verbal Communication – Watch out for body language signals. There may be a posture change, forwards or back, a confused look, a raised eyebrow. When you see these things it may be time to change track, avoid a subject or bring a different perspective to the dialogue.
14. Accommodating – As well as patience, be prepared to be and to accommodate shifting schedules. Be phlegmatic at every changing situation, it is the trusted partner who is there at all times and the friendship endures even when the sands change.
15. Respect The Negotiation Dance – Across the Arab nation they love to negotiate and haggle and get a good deal. You should prepare in your pricing the ability to give some leeway and understand there may be several steps in the negotiation dance. Decisions can take a long time to make so respecting this and being prepared is half the battle of keeping sane.
16. Avoid Anyone Losing Face - Arabs will often speak in vague terms, generalities, stories and metaphors during negotiations. This is not an avoidance strategy, or any intention to frustrate, but rather a method of dialogue that allows for communicating ideas without causing anyone else around the table to lose face. Insulting potential business partners through blunt demands or rejections can be fatal to a deal. Be subtle and always promise to consider requests. Quite often junior or middle ranking executives will not ask questions in front of their leadership as not to appear that they do not know or understand something. Ask everyone in the room if they understand or ask questions when not in front of the boss!
17. Use Networks - Gulf-based organizations can be many-tiered and difficult to penetrate. Use networks and intermediaries to gain intelligence, build relationships and identify bottlenecks or hold ups. Local knowhow and relationship builders can save you a lot of time and effort. Work and develop your networks to support you in addressing the organisation of a target client.
18. Leave Something Left To Give Away – Our Arabic business leaders love a deal and love to haggle and will bring up a continual number of requests and negotiation points. Always expect the dealing and the haggling to go one even when you think you have come to the end of the negotiations.
19. Build Up Trust Through Smaller Deals – One way to help both your client is to build up trust through smaller engagements. It will show you are serious, makes them feel that doing business is easier and your build a track record with the client and the organisation.
20. World Class Innovation - The Middle East is a developing region with world leading ambitions, as one of the new leaders on the global stage they like to be associated with success and leaders in any field. Always look to provide your best perspective and beyond world class solutions.
21. Deliver To Take The Long Term View – All the other tips point to building trusted relationships. Once you have engaged and got your first pieces of work the real success comes from delivering on your promise. Take a longer term view. Business relationships endure and bigger deals come through being present on the ground and delivering.

Well there are my Twenty-One tips, which in essence is not selling but all about building trusted personal and business relationships in the Gulf. I am sure you will have had more experience than I and I would be interested in others views and experiences in being successful in the Middle East.