Core conclusions:In this case, a rubber products factory in Hengshui, Hebei Province used AI foreign trade SDR robots to develop the North American auto parts after-sales market from scratch. It developed 47 new customers a year, 12 of which became long-term stable customers, and the proportion of overseas revenue increased from 0 to 35%.
1. Customer background
A rubber products factory in Hengshui, Hebei Province has been providing car seals and rubber pipes for 20 years. It has long been providing supporting facilities for domestic automobile factories and parts factories, and has accumulated production capacity, molds, and material formulas. In 2025, the factory decided to explore the North American after-sales market. The motivation is very direct: the accounting period and bargaining pressure of the domestic supporting business is increasing, while the demand for wearing parts in the North American auto parts aftermarket is stable, the unit price is higher, and the repurchase is more regular. However, the factory's situation is also very typical: it has 20 years of technology and production capacity, but has never done foreign trade. It has no foreign trade team or overseas customer resources. English communication, quotation methods, and certification requirements must all start from scratch.
2. Problem diagnosis: Why does the original path fail?
First, there is no foreign trade team, and self-construction costs are high.Mature foreign trade salesmen have high salaries and slow recruitment. If the factory forms a team in the traditional way, it will mean that it will have to bear the labor cost for one year first. It is not certain whether it can issue orders, which is too risky for manufacturing companies.
Second, 20 years of technology accumulation cannot be seen by overseas customers.The advantages of the factory are reflected in material formulation, temperature resistance and durability indicators, and mold accuracy, but these are the most easily lost parts of English materials. Customers cannot see the difference and can only compare prices with the factory as an ordinary supplier.
Third, customers in the North American aftermarket are highly dispersed.There are a large number of wholesalers and a small purchase volume. It is a typical long-tail market. Relying on manual work to find and write development letters one by one, manpower simply cannot hold on.
Fourth, follow-up is easy to break.Dozens of hundreds of customers are advancing at the same time, and the progress of emails, quotations, and samples are all recorded by the human brain. It is easy to miss or mistakenly follow, and finally drag out customers who had a chance.
3. What have we done?
1. AI foreign trade SDR robot deployment
Deploy the AI foreign trade SDR robot and hand over the three things of "finding customers, sending development letters, and following up" to the system for automatic execution according to rules: automatically grab qualified target customers, automatically generate personalized development letters, and automatically follow up on unresponded customers at the set pace. Its significance is not to replace people, but to automate the links that must rely on people to repeat labor, so that one person can cover the workload that used to require a team.
2. Data screening for North American auto parts aftermarket
Data screening is conducted on the after-sales channels of auto parts in North America, covering more than 20,000 wholesalers, stratified by business category, import record, procurement scale and other dimensions, giving priority to reaching customers related to seals and rubber pipes, and avoiding obvious mismatch Customers consume follow-up resources.
3. Localization of product English materials
Localize product information in English, focusing on accurate translation of technical parameters: material standards, hardness, temperature resistance range, suitable vehicle models, and test methods. This step may seem to be basic work, but actually determines whether the customer believes that the factory has real technical capabilities.
4. CRM customer management system deployment
Deploy a CRM system and configure automatic follow-up reminders to record each customer's communication stage, quotation status, and sample progress, so that follow-up actions do not rely on personal memory and avoid the loss of customer resources caused by changes in business personnel.
4. Execution rhythm
Month 1: Lay the foundation and run the link first
Completed the deployment of AI foreign trade SDR robots, data screening of North American wholesalers and localization of English materials, and launched CRM. The task this month is to make the entire link run completely once, and confirm that there are no obvious jams in the data, conversation techniques, and follow-up rules, rather than rushing to ask for the number of inquiries.
Months 2 to 6: Heavy volume reaches and samples are accumulated
The SDR robot continues to reach out, replies to development letters begin to accumulate, and customers with real purchasing intentions are gradually screened out, entering the quotation and sample stage. The core of this stage is "quantity" and "stratification"-not all responses are worth investing the same energy. Only by concentrating resources on intentional and large-scale customers can one person's production capacity truly withstand it.
Months 7 to 12: Order formation and solidification into long-term customers
A total of 47 new customers were developed throughout the year, of which 12 became long-term stable customers, with fixed monthly returns. The proportion of overseas revenue increased from 0 to 35%. The entire process only requires 1 salesperson to follow up, which saves 60% of labor costs compared with traditional self-built foreign trade teams.
V. Outcome data
- Newly developed customers:the 47(One-year period)
- Long-term stable customers:the 12, fixed monthly refund
- Proportion of overseas revenue: from0 increased to 35%
- Team input: just need1 salesmanFollow up, saving labor costs compared to traditional foreign trade teams60%
It should be noted that these are the actual arguments in this case. The factory's product base, production capacity and delivery capabilities are the prerequisites for this method to work. AI solves the efficiency of customer acquisition, not the product and delivery itself.
From an execution perspective, the most worthy lesson in this case is to layer first and then follow up. There are a large number of after-sales wholesalers in North America but the quality is uneven. If the opportunity is evenly distributed to every reply, it will be difficult for one salesperson to accept it. Only by focusing on customers with import records and clear purchasing categories can we run through it under the configuration of one person.
6. Which factories can this method be replicated to?
The most suitable ones are manufacturing factories with "production capacity, technical or process accumulation, a high degree of product standardization, but lack of foreign trade experience", such as rubber and plastic seals, metal stampings, fasteners, bearings, motor parts, and general purpose machinery parts. Such factories are characterized by strong product versatility, low customer replacement costs, and stable repurchase. They are very suitable for long-tail development using automated reach methods. Conversely, if it is a highly customized product that requires complex pre-sales technical support, automated touch can only be used as a source of clues, and subsequent technical communication and solution design still require professional manpower.
7. Common questions
Q: Will AI foreign trade SDR robot send development letters as spam?
A: The key lies in the quality and relevance of the list. The approach in this case is to first screen out wholesalers who are importing similar products, and then generate content based on the other party's business categories, rather than sending them indiscriminately. In addition, the touch rhythm needs to be controlled, and accounts that send high-frequency group messages at one time can easily be restricted.
Q: 1 salesman and 47 new customers, can you keep up?
A: It depends on the division of labor. In this case, the early list screening, development letters, and preliminary follow-up are completed by the system. The salesperson's time is mainly spent on in-depth communication, quotation, and order execution with customers with clear intentions, so the manpower is not scattered in indiscriminate contact.
Q: Overseas revenue accounts for 35%. Does it mean that domestic business has been weakened?
A: No. In this case, 35% is an increase based on the continued operation of the original domestic supporting business. Overseas business is an increase, rather than transferring domestic orders. The more practical value for factories is that the customer structure becomes more fragmented and risks are not concentrated in one market.
