How it works

Three pre-built workflows. Yours to keep. Yours to edit.

No SaaS. No login. No servers to keep online. You import three JSON files into n8n, connect your inbox and your lead log, run a 10-minute test, and you're live. Here is what each piece does.

Gmail Outlook Google Sheets Airtable n8n
Step 1 · Workflow 1

A quote request arrives in your inbox.

Inbox Autopilot watches your existing Gmail or Outlook. No new email address. No forwarding rules. It uses IMAP / OAuth with your own credentials, stored in your own n8n instance.

  • New email → the workflow picks it up within a minute.
  • Non-inquiry email (vendor, newsletter, billing, internal) → ignored.
  • Borderline cases → logged but clearly tagged for your review.
Inbox

Quote request received

From Sarah Kim · West Linn · weekly mowing + hedge trim

Lead log

Row created in Airtable

Service type, neighborhood, timing, and contact parsed into structured fields.

Step 2 · Classify & log

The lead gets identified and logged automatically.

The AI classifier decides whether this is a real lead, a current-customer question, or noise. Real leads get parsed into your Google Sheet or Airtable with clean fields.

  • Service type — mowing, hedge trim, cleanup, install, snow removal, etc.
  • Neighborhood / ZIP — so you can pre-filter by service area.
  • Timing — "this week," "spring," "ASAP," "flexible."
  • Contact — name, email, and phone if provided.
  • Status — starts as new. Your SOP for updating it is one dropdown.
Step 3 · Reply draft

A reply draft is created in your Drafts folder.

Short. Polite. In your voice — we set the tone during install using a prompt pack you can edit any time. It asks for the one piece of information you need to put together a real quote (lot size, photos, frequency, scheduling window).

  • Never invents prices.
  • Never promises availability.
  • Never auto-sends.
  • Always signs off as you, from your inbox.
Drafts

Draft reply ready to review

Your Drafts folder · labeled automatically · you hit send.

Follow-up

24h / 48h / final follow-up drafts

Different tone and length for each stage — all drafts.

Step 4 · Workflow 2

Stale leads get follow-up drafts on a schedule.

Follow-up is the most-forgotten, most-valuable piece of running a small service business. Workflow 2 writes the follow-up drafts for you — you just review and send.

  • 24 hours no reply — gentle "just circling back" nudge.
  • 48 hours no reply — a specific question to restart the thread.
  • 5 business days no reply — respectful close-the-loop message.
  • You sent a real reply? Workflow 4 marks that lead replied so follow-up automation skips the thread.
Step 5 · Workflow 3

A daily owner digest lands in your inbox at 7 AM.

Less ceremony. Less scrolling. A single email that tells you exactly what to do with the first 15 minutes of your morning.

  • New leads overnight — who and what they asked for.
  • Drafts waiting on you — the ones worth hitting send on first.
  • Stale > 48 hours — where a follow-up draft is sitting.
  • Replied and waiting — customers who answered and need the next step from you.

Readable on your phone. Done in three minutes.

Digest

7 AM daily owner digest

New · waiting · stale · replied — in that order, every morning.

Under the hood

Three core workflows plus a reply-sync helper you can open, read, and change.

This is a workflow kit, not a black box. Every node is labeled. Every prompt is a plain text file. If you want to change tone, language, or logic later, you can — without asking permission.

Workflow 1

Inbox → lead log → draft reply

Triggered by new mail. Classifies, parses, logs, and drafts. About 14 nodes.

Workflow 2

Follow-up drafter

Runs every hour. Walks your lead log. Writes a nudge draft when the clock ticks. About 9 nodes.

Workflow 3

Daily owner digest

Runs at your chosen time. Summarizes the last 24 hours into a single email. About 7 nodes.

Workflow 4

Reply-state sync

Watches Sent mail and marks matching leads replied so follow-up stays accurate without manual CRM cleanup.

Safe rollout sequence

Never all three at once.

We recommend the same sequence we use with every buyer. The test checklist is the gate — don't skip it.

D1

Day 1 — install & test (30–45 minutes)

Import Workflow 1. Wire up credentials. Run the 10-minute test checklist with three seed emails. No live traffic yet.

D2

Day 2 — Workflow 1 + Workflow 4 live

Turn on the lead-catcher and reply-sync helper. Watch drafts appear, send the good ones, and confirm sent replies mark themselves replied in the CRM.

D4

Day 4 — add Workflow 2

Turn on the follow-up drafter. Set the 24h / 48h / final cadence. Still all drafts.

D7

Day 7 — add Workflow 3

Schedule the daily digest to land at 7 AM. Read it with coffee. Done.

Rule of thumb: nothing becomes auto-send until you've seen at least 20 drafts and agreed with 18 of them. Most buyers never flip auto-send on, and that's fine. Drafts are the product.

This is the whole system.

No hidden pieces. No upsell. Buy Pro, get the three core workflows, the reply-sync helper, and every doc you need to install in the next 30 minutes.