Business Partner / Distributor Search in Morocco

Content:

• Scope of Business Partner / Distributor Search in Morocco
• Advantages of a Business Partner Search in Morocco with FMC Group
• Business Culture in Morocco
• A Client Example for Distributor Search in Morocco

• Searching for candidates systematically that are matching to your ideal business partner profile in our own database and by desk research and creating the long-list
• Interviewing key customers directly beforehand to understand their point-of-view and asking for direct recommendations & opinions about the local players
• Shortlisting the best candidates after prequalification of all long-listed companies
• Detailed interviews with the best candidates with a well-structured questionnaire and further evaluation with our experience 
• Bringing together all information in a well-structured report covering the complete overview of the long-listed companies, details of the short-listed candidates, all interviews, and brief market information 
• After your feedback, organizing your face-to-face meetings and schedule of your market visit
• Attending all the meetings together with you providing support and consultancy
• Strategic advice and brainstorming on your distributor set-up directly during the visit  
• Reference checks
• Any further support that might be needed after the business partner search part

• Quick and deep understanding of your business, services / products, targets, and needs. 
• Building a real team environment with you, as if you have your own eyes in Morocco 
• Systematic search of all companies in your target segments in Morocco to ensure that the best candidates are found and evaluated carefully
• Finding companies in the complementary business areas that matches to your own products / services to create the perfect synergy
• Understanding of local culture and markets 
• Understanding different business mentalities to provide the necessary cultural guidance and translating the messages in between the lines
• Providing market information by the interviews conducted with key customers and the candidates 

Morocco has a very rich culture known mostly with its artistic and culinary heritage. The country also offers various opportunities over a variety of different sectors. It is essential to understand the specific characteristics of your local business partners to maintain successful business relationships.

• Indirect communication especially in a negative context, avoiding direct confrontation
• Strong hierarchy, decision-making mostly top-down and can take time 
• Personal relationships and having a network of contacts are extremely important
• Starting with small talk about family, sports, weather are suitable. Avoid topics such as religion & Moroccan Royal Family
• Be aware the month of Ramadan as working hours are reduced and business is limited. Friday afternoons can also be not suitable due to Friday prayers
• Arriving on time to meetings & punctuality are important even though you may be kept waiting for up to 30 min to an hour late for meetings    
• French influence on especially business is strong; most meetings are in French and the business attire is formal
• Business cards could be in French and/or Arabic at least on one side
• Like in many Muslim countries, when meeting someone from the opposite sex, allow your counterpart to extend their hand first 

Client Situation: Our client is providing highly innovative technological solutions in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and aesthetics fields. They aimed to expand to Morocco & Tunisia and looking for distributors to serve the whole North Africa market in the best way possible.   

Project scope:  Project centrally managed by the competence centre located in our HQ in Istanbul giving our client one continuous point of contact. Field works are carried out in parallel by the consultants located in the countries. The progress is monitored by the competence centre, steering the project wherever necessary and updating the client regularly in each phase.  

First phase was desk research to check the market conditions, direct competition & their local organizations and possible candidates in Morocco & Tunisia. Long-lists are completed by including the insight obtained from the key customer interviews. After our client’s feedback on the long-lists, all companies are contacted to understand them more in-depth to be able to evaluate their fit and to identify their interests. We come with a short-list of the best candidates.