As someone running a consultancy myself, I fully understand the ambitions of other consultants aiming to win clients in the GCC. Attracted by high fees and a large base of well-funded clients, many see the region as their next “gold mine.” But the reality is that competition among consultants in the Gulf is intense – and growing.
That’s why I usually advise new entrants to focus on a single, unique consulting product—one based on proprietary know-how and with limited direct competition. In one of my recent projects, we applied exactly this strategy.
The client had such a product, and we started marketing it exclusively through digital channels – no trips, no face-to-face meetings, and no leveraging of personal connections. This was deliberate. From experience, I’ve learned the importance of validating real interest, not just polite responses driven by warm introductions.
The early stage was challenging. We needed to identify the right niche and audience. But once we did, results began to follow: we connected with several CEOs and COOs, using a webinar landing page as our main lead magnet. While trying different audiences we also had to announce then cancel a couple of webinars which did not generate a lot of interest.We also tested the concept during Ramadhan, when the business activity is usually low. But I consider it an ideal time for testing. If the product hits the interest, you’d get responses even in Ramadhan, sometimes at very unusual times at 11 pm at night or even 3 am in the morning.
While attendance of the webinar we held was low, the level of interest they showed gave us an opening to begin meaningful conversations. Among them was even a well-known business owner listed by Forbes in his industry.
We also started building a local partnership network – engaging people who were interested in representing the service on the ground. At the same time, we rebuilt the company’s website and social media presence to better align with regional expectations and business culture.
Ultimately, the client made the decision to pause the project for internal reasons. But the insights and learnings we gained have proven invaluable – and we’re already applying them in similar initiatives across the GCC.
