Many factories have been working as Ali International Station for several years and spend a lot of money, but the results are getting worse and worse. This article shares a real case: a machinery manufacturing factory in Shandong has been working as an Alibaba International Station for three years, but the results are getting worse and worse. Later, it gave up the platform and switched to AI to actively attract customers. It signed 2 overseas orders in three months, and the inquiry cost was reduced by 60%.
Note: In order to protect customer privacy, this article does not show the company name, only share the real process and data.
1. Customer background
areas: Jinan, Shandong
industry: Mechanical manufacturing
main products: Packaging machinery, food processing equipment
plant scale: 120 people, with an annual output value of approximately RMB 80 million
Foreign trade basics: I have worked as Ali International Station for 3 years, have 2 foreign trade salesmen and have basic foreign trade experience.
2. Problems encountered
At the beginning of 2026, the owner of this factory came to us and talked about several pain points of Alibaba International Station:
1. Annual and promotion fees are getting more and more expensive: The annual fee for Ali International Station is 36,800 yuan, the through train costs 80,000 yuan a year, and the salary of operating personnel costs more than 200,000 yuan a year.
2. The quality of inquiries is getting worse and worse: I received 5-10 inquiries a day, but most of them were group price comparisons, and there were also peer price sets. There are less than 2 truly valuable inquiries a week.
3. The price war is serious: Hundreds of peers with the same keyword, customers only compare prices. Quotes are getting lower and lower, and profits fall from 15% to 5%.
4. Customers cannot be retained: Customers only communicate on the platform, and lose contact after placing an order, and the order refund rate is low. Customer resources are all on the platform and not in your own hands.
5. The rules are becoming more complex: Star rating, RTS, credit insurance, live broadcast... you have to learn new rules every year. If you don't follow them, there will be no traffic.
The boss made some calculations: Ali International Station invested 220,000 yuan last year, bringing only 180,000 yuan in order profit, which is equivalent to working in vain for a year.
3. Transformation plan
We have formulated a plan for this factory to "abandon the platform and turn to AI to actively attract customers":
Step 1: Analyze existing customers and find accurate customer portraits (Week 1)
Analyze their transaction customers in the past 3 years:
- The most profitable customer: European food processing plants (large orders, high profits, and large refund orders)
- The easiest customer to deal with: packaging factories in Southeast Asia (quick decisions and less price sensitive)
- The worst customer: small cross-border e-commerce sellers (small orders, many things, and few refunds)
Conclusion: Focus on European food processing plants and Southeast Asian packaging plants and abandon small sellers.
Step 2: AI accurately targets target customers (starting from week 2)
Using AI tools:
- Positioning food processing plants in Europe and packaging plants in Southeast Asia
- Find the contact information of purchasing managers, technical directors, and bosses (email +WhatsApp+ LinkedIn)
- Screening by company size: Those with more than 50 employees and import records are preferred
Targeting 200-300 precise target customers every week is not just a general "machinery importer."
Step 3: Personalized development + multi-channel reach (continuous)
Each customer is reached in 3 ways:
- development letter: AI generates personalized emails that target customers 'specific products and needs
- WhatsApp: Add customers to WhatsApp and send short introductions and product videos
- LinkedIn: Add customers to LinkedIn and establish long-term contact
Follow up rhythm: The first letter is issued → 3 days of follow-up (sending product videos) → 7 days of follow-up (sending customer cases) → 14 days of follow-up (asking for needs) → Add the long-term cultivation list and send industry information once a month.
Step 4: Professional quotation and negotiation support (continuous)
Our team of foreign trade experts:
- Help them optimize their quotations (highlight value, not just price)
- Guide technical plan communication (mechanical equipment requires technical exchange)
- Guide negotiation strategies (how to deal with price reductions and how to promote orders)
- Help them prepare English technical materials and cases
4. Effect data
Month 1: Switching period
- AI development customers: 800+
- Enquiries received: 12 (all are accurate customers, not group price comparisons)
- In-depth communication: 5
- Video conferences: 2
- Order: 0 (in conversation)
In the first month, the number of inquiries was less than that of Ali, but the quality was much higher. Each inquiry is for an accurate customer with specific needs, not a group price comparison.
Month 2: Effective period
- AI development customers: 1000+
- Enquiries received: 18
- In-depth communication: 10
- Video conferences: 5
- Proofing/scheme: 3 companies
- Order: 1 (Thai customer, US$28,000)
In the second month, a packaging factory in Thailand signed an order for packaging machinery of US$28,000 (about 200,000 RMB). Customers contacted through WhatsApp, and it only took 21 days from contact to placing an order.
Month 3: Stabilization period
- AI development customers: 1200+
- Enquiries received: 22
- In-depth communication: 12
- Video conferences: 7
- Proofing/solution: 5 companies
- Order: 1 (Polish customer, US$45,000)
In the third month, a food processing factory in Poland signed an order for food processing equipment of US$45,000 (about 320,000 yuan). This customer followed up for 2 months, held 3 video conferences, and finally closed the deal.
3-month comparison: AI customer acquisition vs Alibaba International Station
| indicators | Ali International Station (average in the past year) | AI actively obtains customers (3-month average) |
|---|---|---|
| Average monthly investment | 18,000 Yuan | 0.8 million Yuan |
| Average monthly inquiries | 25 (poor quality) | Article 17 (High Quality) |
| Effective inquiry rate | 15% | 80% |
| Valid monthly inquiries | Article 3.75 | Article 13.6 |
| Cost of effective single inquiry | 4800 Yuan | 588 Yuan |
| average monthly transaction | by 0.5 | 0.67 |
| average order size | $12,000 | $36,500 |
| customer resources | on the platform | in their own hands |
key conclusions: The effective inquiry cost for AI to actively obtain customers is only 1/8 of that of Alibaba International Station, and the average order amount is three times that of Alibaba.
5. Why is AI more effective in actively attracting customers?
1. Customers are more precise: AI actively obtains customers means that you go to target customers and only find companies that match your customer's portrait. Ali International Station is waiting for customers to come to you. There are all kinds of customers, most of which are not your target customers.
2. Less competition: AI takes the initiative to obtain customers. If you contact the customer directly, you may only be the only one following. At Alibaba International Station, an inquiry is sent to dozens of peers at the same time, and customers only compare the price.
3. Higher customer quality: Actively find companies with specific needs, and the decision-making chain is clear. There are many price comparisons, price hikes, and small sellers on Ali.
4. Order amount is larger: Those who actively develop are factories and brand owners, and the order volume is large. Many of Alibaba are small wholesalers and e-commerce sellers with small orders.
5. Customers in their own hands: Actively obtain customers, customer contact information is in your own hands, and you can follow up, refund orders, and transfer introductions for a long time. Alibaba's customers are on the platform. If you leave the platform, you lose customers.
6. Difficulties in the transformation process
Difficulty 1: The salesperson is used to waiting for inquiries and is not adapted to proactive development
Solution: In the first two months, we accompanied the salesperson, assigned customer lists and development letter templates every day, and urged them to send them. Two months later, the salesperson adapted to active development, and found that the customers who actively developed had higher quality and a greater sense of accomplishment.
Difficulty 2: Don't know how to write a development letter
Solution: Use AI to generate personalized development letters, and our experts review and revise them. The salesperson only needs to fill in the customer's specific information and can write a high-quality development letter in 10 minutes.
Difficulty 3: Low customer response rate and lack of confidence
Solution: Help them analyze the data. A response rate of 5-8% for proactive development is normal. It would be good to have 5-8 responses from 100 customers. As long as we continue to do it, the accumulated number of inquiries will increase.
Difficulty 4: Mechanical equipment requires technical communication, and the salesperson does not understand technology
Solution: Let technicians participate in video conferences, salesmen are responsible for business communication, and technicians are responsible for technical answers. We also prepared English answer templates for common technical questions for them.
7. Customer feedback
"After three years of Ali International Station, the more tired I am, the more money I spend and the thinner the profits are. After transferring to AI actively received customers for three months, although the number of inquiries was small, the quality was too high, and all transactions were made by major customers. Now we have stopped Ali Express, only retaining basic members, and putting all our budgets on AI customers. Customer resources are in your own hands and you are at ease. "
--Mr. Li of Shandong Machinery Manufacturing Factory
8. Suggestions for factories that are still building B2B platforms
1. Don't put all your budget on the platform: The platform can do it, but don't rely solely on the platform. Put at least 50% of your budget on proactive customer acquisition and deploy multiple channels.
2. Platform customers want to transfer to private domain: Customers who make deals on the platform must add WhatsApp and WeChat and transfer them to their own hands. Don't just communicate on the platform, otherwise you will lose customers if you leave the platform.
3. Proactive customer acquisition is a trend: In 2026, more and more factories will shift from "waiting for customers" to "looking for customers." Active customer acquisition costs are lower, customer quality is higher, and more sustainable.
4. Transformation takes time and patience: Moving from the platform to active customer acquisition may not be suitable for the first 1-2 months, and the effect will not be stable. But if you persist for more than 3 months, the effect will get better and better.
5. You can find a professional team to accompany you: If you don't have active customer acquisition experience, find a professional AI foreign trade customer acquisition service company to accompany you. It's much faster than exploring yourself and you'll take fewer detours.
summary
This Shandong machinery manufacturing factory switched from Alibaba International Station to AI to actively attract customers. It signed 2 overseas orders in three months, reducing effective inquiry costs by 80%, and increasing the average order amount by three times. It has been proved that for factories with a certain foundation in foreign trade, active customer acquisition has a better effect and a lower cost than other customers on the platform.
If you are also building a B2B platform and feel that the effects are getting worse and the costs are getting higher and higher, you can consider transforming AI to actively attract customers. Qihang AI's Xunpanbao (Inquiry Assurance) service helps factories use AI to accurately obtain customers, agree on the target inquiry volume according to the cooperation plan, and provide guidance throughout the journey. If you want to know what is suitable for your factory, you can contact us for free analysis.
