The exact n8n workflow I use to qualify leads automatically (step-by-step breakdown)

One of the first things I automated that actually moved the needle: lead qualification.

Before this workflow, I was manually reading every form submission, copy-pasting into a spreadsheet, and deciding if a lead was worth a 30-minute call. It was eating 2–3 hours a week — not a lot until you realize that compounds over months.

Here's the exact flow I built in n8n:

Step 1: Trigger on new form submissionTypeform / Tally / custom form → n8n webhook. Every lead entry fires the workflow immediately.

Step 2: AI scoringSend the lead data to an AI node (Claude). Prompt it to score the lead 1–10 based on: business type and size, problem described, any budget signals in their free-text answers, urgency indicators. It also writes a one-sentence summary explaining why the lead matters or doesn't.

Step 3: Routing logic Score 7–10 → tagged "Hot" → Slack ping to me + automated calendar link sent via email immediately Score 4–6 → tagged "Warm" → added to a 3-email nurture drip over 7 days Score 1–3 → tagged "Cold" → CRM entry + 30-day follow-up task, no immediate action

Step 4: CRM entryEvery lead lands in HubSpot / Airtable with the score, AI summary, and tag already filled in. Zero manual data entry.

Step 5: Morning Slack digest8am daily: a scheduled workflow pulls the last 24h of leads and sends a summary — X hot, X warm, X cold, top 3 worth reviewing today.

Result: went from ~2 hours/day on lead review to about 10 minutes. Hot leads come to me automatically. Warm ones get nurtured without me touching them.

The biggest mistake I see people make when building this: they use a single yes/no "is this a good lead?" prompt. The magic is the numeric score + the one-line reasoning — it gives you a paper trail and trains your eye for what actually converts over time.

What does your lead qualification workflow look like right now — manual, semi-automated, or fully hands-off?

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