Many factories have old salesmen, but the methods of the old salesmen are outdated. Relying on exhibitions and B2B platforms, the effect is getting worse and worse. This article shares a real case: a glass products factory in Guangdong has an old salesman who has been working for 8 years. With the combination of "old salesman + new AI tools", the number of inquiries has tripled and 8 new overseas customers have been added in half a year.
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: Guangzhou, Guangdong
industry: Glass manufacturing
main products: Glass cups, glass vases, glass candlesticks, customized glass handicrafts
plant scale: 150 people, with an annual output value of approximately RMB 60 million
Foreign trade basics: There is an old salesman who has been working as a salesman for 8 years. He used to rely on exhibitions and Alibaba International Station and had a certain amount of customer accumulation.
2. Problems encountered
At the beginning of 2026, the owner of this factory came to us and talked about several pain points:
1. Old salesman methods are outdated: I have been a salesperson for 8 years, but I still have the same old routine: waiting for exhibitions, waiting for Ali inquiries, and sending development letters in group. The effect is getting worse and worse, but it is unwilling to change.
2. The number of inquiries decreases year by year: The average monthly inquiry in 2023 is 20, in 2024 is 15, and in 2025 is only 10. The effectiveness of the exhibition is also declining, and the quality of Ali's inquiries is getting worse and worse.
3. Aging customers: Existing customers were developed 5 years ago. Orders from old customers are decreasing, and new customers cannot be developed.
4. The boss wants to change but can't push it: The boss wanted the salesperson to learn new tools and methods, but the salesperson said,"I have been doing foreign trade for 8 years, and I still need you to teach me? ", There is a lot of resistance.
5. I don't know how to use AI tools: I heard that AI can write development letters and find customers, but I don't know how to use it specifically. I'm afraid that it will waste time if I don't use it well.
3. Solution: Old salesman + new AI tools
Instead of asking the old salesmen to "completely overthrow and start over," we designed a plan of "old salesmen experience +AI tools to improve efficiency" to make it easy for the old salesmen to accept:
Step 1: Let old salespeople see the value of AI (Week 1)
We didn't train immediately, but gave a demonstration first:
- 50 European glass importers were found within 10 minutes with AI tools, including the email address of the purchasing director.
- 50 personalized development letters were generated using AI, each mentioning the customer's specific product
- It takes 2 days for the old salesman to find 50 customers + write a development letter
After reading it, the old salesman said: "This tool is really fast. If I find it myself, it will take 2 days. "The resistance has been half eliminated.
Step 2: AI does repetitive work, and old salespeople do high-value work (starting in week 2)
Clear division of labor:
What AI does (repetitive, time-consuming):
- Find target customers in batches (200-300 per week)
- Generate draft development letter (personalized, for each customer)
- Automatic follow-up email (3-day, 7-day, 14-day follow-up)
- Organization and classification of customer information
- Translation and grammar checking
What old salespeople do (high-value, experience-requiring):
- Determine customer quality (which are real customers and which are invalid)
- Modify the development letter (add your own experience and tone)
- Respond to customer inquiries (negotiation, quotation, technical communication)
- Sample delivery and order follow-up
- customer relationship maintenance
The old salesman discovered that AI was not here to replace him, but to help him with odd jobs. He could spend his time on more valuable negotiations and customer maintenance.
Step 3: Establish a standardized process (Week 3)
Helped them establish the "AI Customer Acquisition SOP":
- weekly: AI generates a list of 200 target customers, and the old salesperson screens out 100 accurate customers
- every Tuesday: AI generates the first draft of 100 initial letters, and the old salesperson modifies them and sends them
- Every Wednesday to Friday: Respond to customer inquiries and follow up with intended customers
- every Friday: AI automatically sends follow-up emails to customers who do not respond
- Weekly review: Analyze data, adjust customer profiles and develop messaging
Step 4: Continue to optimize and accompany running (continuous)
Our team:
- Weekly review with old salesmen to optimize customer portraits and development letters
- Help him analyze customer responses and give negotiation suggestions
- Teach him to use AI to conduct customer background checks (understand customer situations before negotiation)
- Help him create a customer management form and follow up on the status of each customer
4. Effect data
Before transformation (second half of 2025, monthly average)
- Average monthly development customers: 200 (manual search, group development letters)
- Average monthly inquiries: 10
- Average monthly price: 6
- Average monthly samples: 2
- Average monthly transactions: 0.3
- Customer response rate: approximately 2%
After transformation (first half of 2026, monthly average)
- Average monthly development customers: 800 (AI search, personalized development letter)
- Average monthly inquiries: 32
- Average monthly price: 22
- Average monthly samples: 7
- Average monthly transactions: 1.3
- Customer response rate: approximately 6%
Half year comparison
| indicators | Before transformation (half a year) | After transformation (half a year) | change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of developed customers | 1200 | 4800 | +300% |
| Enquiries | 60 | 192 | +220% |
| Quotations | 36 | 132 | +267% |
| number of samples | 12 | 42 | +250% |
| transaction customer | of 2 | of 8 | +300% |
| order amount | About $80,000 | About $350,000. | +337% |
| Reply rate | 2% | 6% | +200% |
key conclusions: After using AI tools, the efficiency of old salesmen has tripled, the inquiry volume has tripled, 8 new customers have been added in half a year, and the order amount has quadrupled.
5. Changes in old salesmen
Month 1: Conflict
"I have been doing foreign trade for 8 years, and I still use AI? " " Development letters written by AI have no soul. " " I can find customers myself. "
Month 2: Try
"AI is really quick to find customers and saves me a lot of time. " " The first draft of the development letter can be used, but I still have to change it. " " The automatic follow-up function is good and customers will not be missed. "
Month 3: Accepted
"This tool has helped me do a lot of chores so I can concentrate on talking about customers. " " There are now more customers developing in a week than in a month before. " " I have too many inquiries and I can't get over it. "
Months 4-6: Dependence
"Now I don't know how to work without AI. " "AI helps me find customers and write the first draft, and I am responsible for negotiating orders. This combination is great. " " The boss will hire me another assistant, so I can develop more customers. "
6. Key success factors
1. There is no denial of the experience of old salesmen: We didn't say,"Your previous methods were all wrong," but said,"Your experience is valuable, AI helps you do chores, and you concentrate on doing high-value things." Old salesmen are easy to accept.
2. Show value first, then promote use: Do a demonstration first to let the old salesmen see the efficiency of AI, rather than training and requesting it as soon as it comes up. After seeing the value, he wanted to use it himself.
3. The division of labor is clear, and AI does not replace people: AI does repetitive work, and old salespeople do work that requires experience and judgment. It is not "AI replaces salesmen", but "salesmen who use AI replace salesmen who do not use AI."
4. Establish standardized processes: Turn AI customer acquisition into a standardized process, and make it clear what to do and how to do it every week. The old salesman executes according to the process, and the effect is stable.
5. Continuous running and optimization: It's not that you just ignore the tools, but you will review them every week and continue to optimize them. Old salesmen have answers at any time when encountering problems, and they are more and more confident.
7. Suggestions for factories with old salesmen
1. Don't force old salespeople to change: The more you force, the more you resist. Show the value first, let him see the benefits of AI and actively want to use it.
2. AI is a tool, not a substitute: Tell the old salesman that AI is here to help him, not to replace him. Salespeople who use AI are more efficient and earn more.
3. Let old salespeople participate in selecting tools: Don't let the boss buy tools and force them on the salesperson. Let the old salesperson participate in the trial and selection. If he has a sense of participation, he will be more willing to use them.
4. establish an incentive mechanism: After using AI tools, the salesperson develops more customers, deals more transactions, and commissions more. If he saw that he could make more money using AI, he would naturally be willing to use it.
5. Give time to learn and adapt: It takes time for old salespeople to accept new things. Don't expect to completely change in a month. Give a three-month adaptation period and gradually advance.
8. Common questions
Q: What should I do if an old salesperson is unwilling to use AI?
A: Don't force it yet. Let him watch the demonstration first and see that AI can help him save time and make more money. Then let him start using small functions (such as AI writing the first draft of a development letter) and slowly adapt to it. If you really don't want to, you can hire a new person to use AI. In contrast, the old salesperson will learn when he sees the new person's effect is good.
Q: Will the development letter written by AI be too stiff?
A: AI writes a first draft and needs to be revised by an old salesperson. The experience of old salesmen is reflected in modifications: adding understanding of customers, adjusting tone, and adding their own style. AI is responsible for efficiency, and people are responsible for temperature.
Q: With AI, will salespeople become lazy?
A: No. AI does repetitive work, and salespeople have more time to do high-value things (negotiation, customer maintenance). Moreover, after using AI, there will be more customers and salesmen will become busier and will not become lazy. The key is to establish a good assessment and incentive mechanism.
Q: Will the customer resources of old salesmen be replaced by AI?
A: No. The core values of old salesmen are negotiation skills, customer relationships, and industry experience. These AI cannot replace them. AI just helps him find more customers and do more chores, so that his experience can be of greater value.
Q: The factory has no technicians. Can I use AI tools well?
A: Yes. Today's AI tools are very simple and do not require technical background. The key is to have good running companions and training to help salesmen get started quickly. Qihang AI's Xunpanbao (Inquiry Assurance) service includes full-time accompanying runs and hands-on teaching salesmen to use AI tools.
summary
This Guangdong glass products factory uses a combination of "old salesmen + new AI tools" to triple the number of inquiries in half a year, add 8 new overseas customers, and quadruple the order amount. It proves that the experience of the old salesman + the efficiency of AI tools is a good combination. It is not that AI replaces people, but that people who use AI replace people who do not use AI.
If your factory also has old salesmen, but feels that the methods are outdated and the effectiveness is declining, you can consider introducing AI tools to make the experience of the old salesmen more valuable. Qihang AI's Xunpanbao (Inquiry Assurance) service provides AI tools + full-time escort to help factory salesmen quickly get started with AI and gain customers and improve efficiency and performance. If you want to know how to do this, you can contact us for a free demonstration.
