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Suhail Ghazi Algosaibi Famous six times over successful entrepreneur, Suhail Ghazi Algosaibi shares the secrets of his success over two days
- 75 young entrepreneurs learn invaluable tips on what it takes from the master
Doha, 18 May 2014: Bedaya Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development staged two dynamic seminars for budding entrepreneurs over two days in Katara to learn how to succeed from the master, famous six times over successful entrepreneur, Suhail Ghazi Algosaibi. The two seminars, entitled ‘Radical Marketing’ and ‘Sales Secrets’, were packed with great tips on what it takes be an entrepreneur, how to market a successful business and how to sell, and the insights were eagerly received by an enraptured audience.
According to Algosaibi, entrepreneurs have to be prepared to sacrifice their time but never their health or family. Starting out alone can be hard at first, he said, but can be mitigated by teamwork, joining professional communities and attending events. Above all entrepreneurs must have confidence in themselves and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
One of the most important things in starting a business, Algosaibi said, was to search for a gap in the market and from that, develop a unique selling proposition (USP) that will make a difference in the marketplace. The USP, the mainstay of all successful businesses, can be a theme, a product or service or any aspect of it – positioning, ingredients, colour, size, celebrity endorsement, hours of operation or location. The more a business can distinguish itself the more profitable it will be.
Yasmeen Hasan, Entrepreneurship Manager, agreed: “At Bedaya Centre we handhold would-be entrepreneurs through every stage of starting a business, offering them practical advice every step of the way, such as insights and mentoring from highly experienced successful entrepreneurs like Suhail Algosaibi to set them on the right path. This process starts with our evaluating their business idea to ensure it is unique and can stand up in the market. Bedaya advisors then help candidates produce a full business plan that reflects the merit of their idea for potential investors.”
Algosaibi went on to give practical advice on the ‘six steps to a sale’ – from doing one’s homework, asking questions, presenting, overcoming objections to closing the deal and later asking for referrals.
Alsosaibi also gave some tips on how to be persuasive with customers– things like making proper eye contact and being friendly to establish a good rapport with a prospect. More selling tips he passed on included using ‘tag ‘ questions, adding a rhetorical question at the end of a sentence like ‘right?’, ‘makes sense?’, ‘won’t you?’ as a powerful technique to establish rapport as generally people never say ‘no’ to a tag question.
Defining marketing as ‘everything a business does to attract and retain their desired target market’, Algosaibi outlined some useful pointers. The first step was to determine the target market and once up and running, maintaining relationships with customers was vital. Frequency, he stressed, is vital in marketing, so he recommended using every type of medium to promote a business – print advertising, radio and TV, direct mail, emails, newsletters, joint ventures, free publicity, internet and social media, newsletters, blogposts, articles and books.
Algosaibi went on to explain the difference between a feature – something a product has – and a benefit – what it does – as ‘features tell, benefits sell’. He also contrasted brand advertising, which promotes the aesthetics of an image, with emotional direct response advertising, which focuses on making a sale, using headlines about benefits to elicit a positive response from the reader.
His final advice was to hire great people, treat them well, motivate them, hold them accountable and train them. The greatest marketing weapon of all was not customer service, but great customer experience, from first contact to purchase and post-purchase.
Algosaibi summarized: “Great customer experience starts with great team member service and experience. Developing a great culture like this in your business is the best type of marketing.”
Hamza Ruston, who attended the seminar and wants to be an entrepreneur, said” Some of the information was new to me so I learnt a lot, especially from the marketing tips and how building your own confidence was important. Also how you need to learn how to balance your life and work and keep focused.”
Algosaibi agreed: “The biggest limitation is not believing in yourself so having self-belief and confidence is crucial to succeed as an entrepreneur. You also need to have the audacity to start a business and not see failure as a disaster.”
“Over these two days I have seen there is a wonderful energy in Qatar and it is remarkable what Bedaya Centre is doing here, encouraging young entrepreneurs to take the plunge to start their own business with all the support they can offer. I enjoyed meeting these young people today and speaking to them all and look forward to hearing about their progress in the future.”
