WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS

Business to Business

Doing business in Kuwait on a company to company basis is very much the same as anywhere else except that you will find much more emphasis on price. Selling quality or value-added products or services is extremely hard work indeed.

The best salesmen with the best business cases usually win through and we offer the following suggestions to help you when selling in Kuwait.

Come with plenty of money - the cost of doing business in Kuwait is high All major hotels in Kuwait operate a cartel and are relatively expensive even by international standards. Most of them only offer discounts to travelers who stay more than thirty consecutive nights. Airline tickets are also expensive if purchased in Kuwait. The charges for international telephone calls are also extremely high when compared to those in Europe. Most hotels have business centers but again these are very expensive to use for all but small volumes.

Do not be in a hurry to catch the next plane to another country in the Gulf
This is a commonly made mistake. Visiting businessmen, entrepreneur or salesmen come to Kuwait as part of a tour through the Middle East and work to a fixed flight plan. It is almost impossible to establish a firm schedule of business meetings and you will be doing yourself a great disservice if you have to cut short your visit just because you have another plane to catch.

The business cycle is often protracted and it can take several months to turn an inquiry or a proposal into an order. This makes it very hard to succeed with a series of short visits. In our experience, the most successful visiting salesmen do not work out of hotels, but make informal arrangements with established companies to use their facilities as a base. The point to remember is that during the initial phases the prospect is assessing you, the salesman, as much as your products. The Kuwaitis tend to place more emphasis on this aspect than you might be used to.

Business Communications
The mail service in Kuwait is currently very limited in its scope. If you want an important letter to get to your prospect it is usually best to deliver it yourself. You can entrust it to a driver but be sure it arrives at the right place. The fax is widely used for business communication. It is common practice, in the absence of a mail service, to fax a copy of a letter and follow-up by sending the original, by driver, later. One point to consider with the fax is the lack of confidentiality, as most will have quite informal arrangements for the collection and delivery of incoming faxes.

Most Kuwaiti businessmen carry a mobile telephone and expect instant access to everybody. It is good to get a roaming service on your mobile for atleast the time that you are in the country. Very few businessmen or women keep diaries It is not easy, therefore, to make firm appointments to see people. If you do manage to make an appointment you must be prepared for the customer not to keep to it. If you do get to see the person you may be interrupted by other callers who may join the meeting. Try to learn to take advantage of these local practices and do not expect your prospect to change to European, American or other ways just because that is your nationality.

Be prepared for requests for discounts at all levels
In our experience it is best to assume that the owner of the company is likely to make the final decision and you do not have the order until you have agreed on a price.

At this level, you may think you have finalised the negotiations on the deal only to find it starts all over again when you get to the next level in the organisation. Your problem then being that your 'final' offer becomes the starting point for the next round.

If you do offer concessions to get the order make sure that these are fully documented and signed off at the level that issues the signed order.

Work hard to identify the decision makers
This is an area where time spent is well worth the effort. You will be faced with a complex situation and we offer a few points to success in this area. Most companies in Kuwait comprise groups of different nationalities. Kuwaitis, Indians, Pakistanis, Lebanese, Egyptians, Europeans and Americans are the common nationalities encountered in the day-to-day business. Strong internal networks or cliques develop within these groups and salesmen should be conscious of these and avoid getting too aligned with any one group. These networks extend across company boundaries and can be a very good source of new contacts.

There are wide variations in the use of business titles. In one company the Director of Administration may be the trusted right hand of the owner who is empowered to make most of the buying decisions. In a similar company, the person with the same title can be little more than a secretary to the owner.

Finally, listen very carefully for the names of the people you are dealing with. There are certain names which crop up time and again in Kuwait. Most Kuwaitis have their family as their prime loyalty and the family ties transcend all company organisation.

Be careful with business trips for your prospects
These can be a very powerful way of referencing your products but remember that many Kuwaitis are only too happy to accept an offer to visit your Head Office or your manufacturing plant especially if it is in Europe or on the west coast of the United States. To avoid misunderstandings make sure that the payment of expenses is agreed in advance.

Executive Calls
It is very good for a salesman to introduce the most senior manager of his company to his prospects and customers in Kuwait. Many of your competitors, European and American companies do not do this and it is our experience that such visits are very worthwhile. They are very difficult to arrange due to the logistics and are a nightmare for the salesman as he is never sure until he walks through the door that the person being visited is even in the country let alone at work that day. You will need an understanding executive to accompany you if you are to make a success of this but the benefits of making such calls far outweigh the difficulties.

Local Working Hours
Ministries 0730 - 1400 Sunday to Thursday
Banks 0730 - 1330 Sunday to Thursday

Private sectors mostly work a split shift system with a three hour break in the middle of the day. From this it can be seen that it is not practical to try to run an all day seminar in Kuwait. The best you are likely to be able to do is to invite people for an 0830 hrs start. You will get underway at 0915 hrs when most of the invitees have arrived. You need to complete the presentations by 1230 hrs, if you do not finish by then you will simply lose your audience. They will get up and leave! A buffet lunch will be much appreciated by the attendees.