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Black Lake CEO’s strategy to sell AI solutions to factories: turn to food couriers
🇨🇳 China /Technology

Black Lake CEO’s strategy to sell AI solutions to factories: turn to food couriers

From South China Morning Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Black Lake Technologies CEO Zhou Yuxiang employs food delivery workers as salespeople to reach millions of small and medium-sized factories in China.
  • These workers, chosen for their "street smarts," undergo intensive training to articulate AI's benefits for manufacturing pain points.
  • With over 420 delivery workers on his sales team, Black Lake serves 35,000 factory clients and is ranked as China's top provider of cloud-based production management software.

Zhou Yuxiang, the founder and CEO of Shanghai-based Black Lake Technologies, has adopted an unconventional sales strategy to penetrate China's vast market of millions of family-run factories: hiring food delivery workers. Recognizing the need to connect with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Zhou sought individuals with practical, on-the-ground experience.

His entire sales force, recruited from various industrial cities, undergoes a rigorous five-day boot camp. During this training, they learn to articulate how artificial intelligence (AI) can solve specific manufacturing challenges. "They are very street-smart," Zhou, 36, explained in an exclusive interview. "Good college graduates are often thin-skinned. They linger in front of a factory and can't get in. But for food delivery guys, they just give a cigarette to the security guard and get in... They can also bypass guard dogs, or find a back door to get into a factory to meet the owner because they deliver food."

They are very street-smart. Good college graduates are often thin-skinned. They linger in front of a factory and can't get in. But for food delivery guys, they just give a cigarette to the security guard and get in… They can also bypass guard dogs, or find a back door to get into a factory to meet the owner because they deliver food.

— Zhou YuxiangExplaining why he hired food delivery workers for his sales team.

This unique approach has proven highly effective. Black Lake, established in 2016, now boasts a sales team of over 420 delivery workers. This force has enabled the company to serve an impressive 35,000 factory clients, 95% of which are SMEs. The company's success is further validated by its ranking as mainland China's top provider of cloud-based production management software, according to the International Data Corporation.

While Black Lake's current focus is on the domestic market, Zhou indicated that Hong Kong presents "very attractive" opportunities for the company's next phase of expansion. This suggests a potential move towards international markets, leveraging the success and innovative sales model developed in China.

Hong Kong ‘very attractive’ for next step

— Zhou YuxiangIndicating future expansion plans.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by South China Morning Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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