n8n Lead Follow-Up Workflow: Google Sheets + Email

Automatically follow up new leads from a webhook—Google Sheets tracking, compliant emails, and stop-on-reply

This n8n Lead Follow-Up Workflow captures new leads via a webhook, sends a compliant acknowledgment email using a guardrail sub-workflow, logs everything to Google Sheets, and then runs a daily email follow-up sequence that automatically stops when the lead replies (via IMAP).

What this workflow does

• Receives new lead submissions: A webhook ingests lead details (name, email, phone, practice area) and normalizes them into a tracking record.
• Sends a compliant acknowledgment email: The workflow generates an acknowledgment message and routes it through a compliance/opt-out guardrail sub-workflow. It emails the lead via SMTP only when approved.
• Logs leads to Google Sheets: It appends each lead to the “Lead Follow-Up Tracker” sheet for ongoing tracking—regardless of whether the acknowledgment email is sent.
• Runs daily follow-ups: On a schedule, it reads the tracker from Google Sheets, determines which leads are due for the next stage, and builds stage-specific follow-up emails.
• Sends follow-ups with guardrails: Each follow-up is again processed through the same compliance/opt-out guardrail and sent via SMTP only when approved, then updates the lead’s last sent timestamp and stage in Google Sheets.
• Alerts the attorney at the final stage: If a lead reaches the final configured follow-up stage without responding, it sends an internal no-response alert email to the attorney via SMTP.
• Stops outreach when replies arrive: Using IMAP, it watches the sending mailbox for incoming replies, matches the sender by email address, and marks the lead as responded in Google Sheets to prevent further follow-up.

Use cases

• Law firm or legal intake teams that want structured lead nurturing with compliance-friendly email controls.
• SaaS operators managing high-volume inquiries who need Google Sheets-based pipeline tracking.
• Automation engineers implementing a webhook-to-email follow-up system with “stop when replied” logic.

Technical details

• n8n nodes / building blocks: webhook, if, code, no op, email send, sticky note.
• Integrations: Google Sheets (Lead Follow-Up Tracker), SMTP for outbound email, IMAP for reply detection.
• Compliance control: guardrail sub-workflow to manage opt-out/compliance approval before sending.