This is an n8n workflow that automates cold email outreach from a Google Sheets lead list. It fetches every lead marked "Pending" and processes them one at a time to respect email rate limits and avoid spam filters.
For each lead, OpenAI writes a personalized email based on the lead's name, company, and job title. The email is sent through Gmail, and the lead's status changes to "Email 1 Sent". After a 2-minute processing window, the workflow checks the inbox for replies and sets the status to "Replied" when one is found. Leads that don't respond get an AI-generated follow-up email.
If a step fails, the workflow sends a Slack notification. It suits B2B outreach, recruiting, agency prospecting, and SaaS lead generation. Setup takes about 15 minutes: set leads to "Pending" and adjust the AI prompts to match your outreach style.
- Platform
- n8n workflow
- Lead source
- Google Sheets
- Email delivery
- Gmail
- Personalization
- OpenAI, based on first name, last name, company, and job title
- Notifications
- Slack alerts for workflow failures
- Nodes used
- Gmail, Google Sheets, OpenAI, Slack, plus if, code, wait, and sticky note nodes
- Required connections
- OAuth2 for Google Sheets, Gmail, and Slack; an OpenAI API key
- Sheet columns
- First Name, Last Name, Company, Email, Job Title, Status, Thread_ID
- Status values
- Pending, Email 1 Sent, Replied
- Reply check
- After a 2-minute processing window
- Setup time
- About 15 minutes