As a region, the Middle East is complex and simple at the same time. It’s simple enough that people speak the same language, and more or less hold the same traditions—but complex in the sense that everyone’s culture is different, and it matters.
Every business is about selling, sales drive, and success. As an entrepreneur, I believe selling is the most important skill you need to develop within your team to grow your business. Developing a good product is a must, but if no one buys it, your startup won’t live long. A lot of entrepreneurs do very good marketing, but still struggle to sell! I will address a few important points that I hope will help you sell more in the Middle East:
- Culture & family. Understand the family-dominant culture in this region. I say that because kids live with their parents in this part of the world until they get married. Try to show the value of your product to families, if that’s relevant, because then families—multiple individuals—become your customers. Even outside of the home, ours is a family-oriented, conservative culture. We’ll talk about women in a separate paragraph below; their impact on business is huge.
- Every country is different; every city is different. Anyone who has experienced sales in the UAE or Saudi can assure you that Dubai is different from Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh is different from Jeddah. Make an effort to understand these differences, and be fast and smooth at making changes to your product or service to suit market needs. One size doesn’t fit all; allow some room for local taste. Culture can even differ within the same country. Make it sound like your product is customized for them only. Trust me; people pay more for customization
- Go local, but global. Always sound like you are local and from the people—just like them. At the same time, give your product or service a global touch, something new that they would love. Going local doesn’t necessarily mean opening an office in every city, but I would highly recommend hiring local freelancers and marketing influencers. They will already know more about the local market than you could learn in years
- Take the female economy into consideration. Today—to put it simply—those who are not focusing on women in the region are losing a lot of money. Females in the region are empowered, and they are competent workers. They also make up almost 50% of the workforce. Commonly, married men provide financially for all the needs of house and home, while working women get to buy what they want. So make sure you have a product that women would want to buy. Have a product or service designed and produced exclusively for women; they will always try it.
- Sales is a process. The more focus you put into it as a team, the better your results. As an entrepreneur, your job is to make the whole company your sales team, every day of the week. Just keep this in mind: you create value when you build a product, and you communicate that value when you sell. Sales are only won in the trenches. Go out, talk to people, listen to the market, and make products they would buy.