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Traditionally in Saudi Arabia, it is considered polite to decline an initial offer. Saudis will often wait to see if the offeror insists. You might need to offer two to three times before you receive the “real” answer. If this is different from your own culture, your first thought might be, “That sounds super inefficient.” 

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And in some ways, it is. But in other ways, it’s actually a more effective form of communication. For example, in the United States, people tend to be direct. If they offer something, they mean for you to accept it.

But in any culture, there are situations where you feel pressured to make an offer even though you really don’t want to. For someone from the United States, there’s no commonly understood way to make an offer and communicate that they don’t want it accepted. This is the problem solved by the Saudi way.

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Imagine: You’re at the office, and there are only a few pieces of cake left. There’s social pressure to offer it to your coworker. In the United States, there are very few cues to let your coworker know if you really want them to take it (or if you’d like to hoard that last piece for yourself).

But in Saudi Arabia, it’s different. Here, the way you offer it states your intentions. If you offer it once, it’s understood that you’re being polite and really don’t want them to take the cake. If you continue to say, “Please, take the cake.” Then they’ll know you truly mean your offer.

 

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So what should you do?

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The next time you offer something to a Saudi, try to do it more than once. That way, you’re clearly communicating that you really want them to take what you’re offering.

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How does this translate to business?

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If you’re offering a benefit to a Saudi client, you might find that you need to offer it more than one time to show your sincerity. Similarly, if something is only offered to you once, you might find that it was a show of politeness versus a genuine offer.

Remember– even within the same culture, everyone is different. There is no set formula. The best thing you can do is observe what you see around you, and ask questions.

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Want to learn more about Saudi culture and language?

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