How IT services deals happen in Egypt
Referral first, Facebook second, phone always
An Egyptian IT services firm rarely wins work from a cold website visit. The deal starts with a referral from a past client, a message to the company Facebook page, or a call from an office manager whose network went down once too often. The decisive conversations happen by phone and in person, and the paperwork trails behind. In family-run businesses, the person who enquires is often not the person who signs, so a deal can pass through a technical contact, a finance manager and an owner before it closes.
Pricing that cannot sit still
Hardware-heavy deals carry a uniquely Egyptian complication: costs tied to imported equipment move with the exchange rate, so a quotation is a perishable document. Firms that track quote validity and requote on time protect their margin; firms that honour stale prices donate it. Meanwhile the steady money — annual support contracts, hosting, outsourcing retainers billed to Gulf and European clients — depends entirely on renewal discipline.