The problem this solves
A foreign company decides the Gulf matters. The options look like: hire someone in Dubai, which is expensive and slow and carries real risk if the market is not there; fly someone in every few months, which produces enthusiasm and no follow-through; or do nothing, which is what usually happens.
Outsourced business development is the option in between. A team in the market working your pipeline, at a monthly cost well below an in-market hire, with a defined scope and monthly reporting.
What the work is
- Lead follow-up. Including the ones already sitting in your CRM from the last exhibition. This is usually the fastest return available and it is almost always neglected.
- Prospecting. Identifying and approaching buyers in the region for what you sell.
- Meetings. Arranging them, attending them, and briefing you properly rather than sending notes afterwards.
- Local presence. A UAE number and a person who answers it in the local working week. Buyers here treat a foreign supplier differently when there is someone local accountable.
- Partner and distributor sourcing where selling direct is not the right structure.
- Reporting. Monthly, with the pipeline visible, including what is not working.
The working week problem
It sounds trivial and it is not. The UAE works Monday to Friday, with Friday a shorter day and the rhythm of the week different from Europe. A European supplier emailing on a Friday afternoon is emailing into a weekend. Ramadan changes hours substantially for a month a year. Decisions here are relationship-led and rarely made over email at all.
None of this is difficult to manage. It is just difficult to manage from four thousand kilometres away, part time, alongside a domestic job.
What this is not
How it is priced
A monthly retainer scaled to the level of activity, agreed against a defined scope. Optionally a commission on business concluded, where that is agreed in writing at the start.
We would rather begin with a short defined engagement than a twelve-month commitment. Three months of working your existing pipeline tells you a great deal about whether the market is real, and costs a fraction of finding out the expensive way.
When we will tell you to stop
If after a few months the pipeline is not converting and the reason is the proposition rather than the effort, we will say so. A retainer that quietly renews on a market that is not working serves us and not you, and it is the main reason companies distrust this model.
Whose side we are on
Al Hisn Partners acts for the client and only the client. We are retained by you, we take instructions from you, and our fee is paid by you.
We are paid by you for the work, not by any partner, distributor or customer we bring you. Nothing we put in front of you is there because someone paid us to.
Common questions
How is this different from hiring someone in Dubai?
Cost and reversibility. A retainer is a fraction of a fully loaded in-market hire including visa and office, and you can stop. The trade-off is that we work across several clients rather than being dedicated to you alone.
Do you work on commission only?
No. We work on a retainer, with a commission element possible where it is agreed in writing at the outset. Commission-only arrangements push toward whatever converts fastest rather than what is right for your business.
Will you use our email domain and materials?
Where that is appropriate and you want it, yes. Some clients prefer we operate openly as their appointed representative, which is often more credible. We agree this at the start.
What is the minimum engagement?
We prefer three months as a starting point. Anything shorter does not give enough time for a Gulf sales cycle to show whether it is moving.
Do you sell contact lists or generate leads in bulk?
No. Bulk lead generation is available cheaply elsewhere and it does not work in this market. Our work is slower, per-contact more expensive, and considerably more likely to produce an actual customer.
Who pays you, and do you ever take a fee from the other side?
Our client pays us, and only our client. We do not accept a fee, commission, rebate or referral payment from a counterparty, or from any agent, provider, supplier or institution we introduce or work alongside. If one is offered, we decline it. This applies across every service we provide, without exception.