3d (edited) • General Discussion ✅
0 → 1 Update: I automated my cold outreach + follow-ups (Make + Airtable + Gmail)
Quick progress log from my “book my first demo call” journey. Sharing it in detail in case it helps anyone (and also to get feedback from people who’ve already made this work).
Goal: book 1 demo call first, then close 1 pilot
Lead source (current)
Using Apollo right now (verified contacts)
Sent initial outreach to all 26
No replies yet (so follow-ups matter)
The stack
Airtable = CRM + content storage
Fields: contact, subject, outreach body, FU1/FU2/FU3, status, sent dates, thread id, follow-up flags.
Make.com = automation engine
Gmail = sending + replying inside the same thread
What I automated (2 scenarios)
Scenario #1 — Initial email
Trigger: I tick “Send Email?” in Airtable
Actions:
Send the initial email from Gmail
Save Thread ID back to Airtable (so follow-ups stay in the same conversation)
Set dates:
Initial Sent Date = today
FU1 Date = +2 days
FU2 Date = +5 days
FU3 Date = +9 days
Mark “initial sent?” = true + status updates
Scenario #2 — Follow-ups (the important part)
Trigger: Scheduled daily at 11:00 AM New York time (Mon–Fri) Logic:
Airtable search formula finds records where follow-up is due:
FU1 due if not sent + date <= today
FU2 due if FU1 sent + FU2 not sent + date <= today
FU3 due if FU2 sent + FU3 not sent + date <= today Then router sends the right follow-up:
Replies using the stored Thread ID (so it’s not a new email)
Updates the correct flag FU1?/FU2?/FU3? so nothing repeats
Stops follow-ups after FU3
What I learned (real quick)
The hardest part wasn’t email copy… it was systems + logic to prevent duplicates.
Threading matters: replying by Thread ID keeps it clean.
Follow-ups are where deals happen, so I built the engine first.
What I need feedback on
If you’ve landed clients via cold outreach:
What’s the one move that got your first demo booked?
(Email only? Email + Loom? Call? Free audit?)
Subject lines: do you still like “Quick question, {Name}” or do you prefer offer-based subjects?
If you were me, would you add a quick Loom audit after a positive response, or even before?
I’ll post results after the first follow-up cycle hits.
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0 → 1 Update: I automated my cold outreach + follow-ups (Make + Airtable + Gmail)
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