While you might be the best thing since sliced bread at doing business in your home territory, conducting business with people from other nations can often mean you’ll need a change in techniques or methods in order to secure success. This is especially true in the Arab world, where business is built upon a foundation of friendly relationships and connections.
If you want to boss business in the Arab world, you need to have an understanding of the people, culture and etiquette – read on to find out more…
What and where is the ‘Arab World’?
The term ‘Arab World’ generally means countries incorporated in the Arab League, which is a collection of 22 countries in total including, Palestine, Tunisia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
It covers a large geographical area, contains more than 4 million people, and is full of rich, diverse cultures and languages.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ for Arab nations!
Culture Trip
While physical travel may still be difficult at the moment due to the pandemic, it doesn’t mean we won’t have the opportunity to meet or do business with people from other cultures.
When conducting business with people from the Arab world, whether this is via a virtual meeting, email or phone call, you will notice subtle differences in communication, attitudes, assumptions and ethics – primarily due to cultural variances.
While these differences may be subtle, they will affect how you interact with each other, your general views, and ongoing business dealings.
So, to really understand Arab people, you need to understand their culture; what makes them tick, what they value, what frustrates them, and how to engage them.
The best way to do this is to take a culture trip to the Arab world – perform online research, talk to friends who have visited Arab countries, ask Arabic colleagues, take a cultural awareness course, watch a ‘local’ TV show, or visit a museum with an Arab/Islamic exhibition.
The more you can learn about Arab culture and people, the easier your business dealings will be.
Top Tips for Doing Business in the Arab World
1. Relationship Building
Arab people place a huge value on relationships; it is the foundation for business.
When conducting business with people from the Arab world, they will want to get to know you, find out about your family, engage in friendly conversation and, if the meeting is ‘in-person’, they will often kiss, hug or touch you.
Don’t be put off by this, it is just their way of being friendly, and trying to connect on a deeper level.
2. Religion and Prayer
The majority of the Arab world (but not all) are Muslim.
This means they will generally observe daily prayer times, routines and religious festivals such as, Ramadan.
Interrupted meetings, delays to schedules and refused dinner invitations are the norm during certain religious periods but don’t get frustrated by this. Instead show understanding and respect, it will be appreciated and remembered.
3. Losing and Saving Face
Losing and saving face isn’t just an Arab concept – no one likes to be belittled, blamed or exposed as ‘wrong’ (especially unnecessarily) but for Arab people, highlighting a weakness, showing failings, or outright disagreements, are all potentially fatal to a relationship.
If you disagree with something someone has said or done, don’t highlight it for everyone to see, instead try reframing it within a positive structure.
4. Continuity and Time
Building business relationships with Arab people takes time but your efforts will be rewarded with continuity and stability.
Once you have formed a friendly relationship, and established trust, business will move forward organically.
Don’t try to rush things (remember, you need to be patient) as this will be viewed as being discourteous and disinterested.
Finally, doing business in the Arab world can be a fun, engaging and refreshing experience. Learn to take your time, appreciate the variety and difference, and enjoy the new friendships you are building.
If you need additional support, you can find out more about the cultural awareness training we offer here, or contact us for interpretation and language services.
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