Qualify and route every inbound lead in minutes, not hours
Starts when a form, chat tool or CRM sends a new lead. Ends with a scored lead, a tier, an owner, a response deadline and a reply draft.
Bring the step you are stuck on: 30 minutes, a straight answer and the next step. If you would rather have it built, a reply within 5 working days.
The route
6 steps: 3 rule steps, 1 AI step and no person step
Copy, share, discuss
- Copy
Available once this workflow passes its checks.
- Share
todkett.com/automations/sales/inbound-lead-qualification/
- Discuss
Opens when the first workflow passes its checks. No GitHub account? Ask about this by form.
How the library, the tracks and the talk work: the community page.
At a glance
- Starts when
- A form, chat tool or CRM posts new leads to one webhook.
- Input
- New leads arrive at the webhook, up to 50 per call.
- Output
- A scored lead, a tier, an owner, a response deadline and a reply draft.
- AI
- Uses AIOne step reads the lead's message and website text and returns fit and intent scores, a company size band and a reply draft.
- Rule checks
- 7 checks around the AI
- Tools
- Webhook from any form or CRM, Public company websites, OpenRouter, Google Sheets
- Last stress test
- No recorded run yet
01Steps
The steps
6 steps: 3 rule steps, 1 AI step and no person step. Leads arrive while you are on a call and wait until tonight. Someone has to check the company, decide if it is a real buyer and pick an owner, so hot leads go cold and spam eats time.
01Trigger
Lead arrives
New leads arrive at the webhook, up to 50 per call.
02Rule step
Tidy and cap the fields
Tidy the fields and cap each message at 3,000 characters.
03Rule step
Read the company homepage
Read the company homepage title and description; free email domains are skipped.
04AI step
AI scores and drafts a reply
AI scores fit and buying intent and drafts a first reply.
05Rule step
Score, tier, owner, deadline
Code computes the score and sets the tier, the owner by region and segment, and a response deadline.
06Output
Routed lead and reply draft
Routed leads with their reply drafts.
Sales inbox
02Where AI is used
Where AI is used, and what stays with you
AI reads, judges or drafts. Fixed rules check, decide and route. A person approves anything that goes out.
AI step
Step 04One step reads the lead's message and website text and returns fit and intent scores, a company size band and a reply draft.
Buying intent in free text is hard to judge with rules. The model only scores; code decides the tier, the owner and the deadline.
What the model reads
- The lead's message, capped at 3,000 characters and passed as data, not instructions.
- The company homepage title and description, read before the AI step.
What it never sees or decides
- The score, the tier, the owner or the deadline: code sets all four.
- A guess: an unreadable answer sends the lead to needs review.
- The send button: the reply stays a draft for a person.
Model calls: 1 model call per lead.
Fixed rules
They check, decide and route. 3 rule steps.
- 02Tidy and cap the fields
- 03Read the company homepage
- 05Score, tier, owner, deadline
A person
No step waits for a person. Human sign-off (ST7) is not needed: returns a result only: writes and sends nothing.
03Checks
Checks around the AI
What runs before the model, and what checks its answer after, in plain words. Build these into your version too.
- 01At most 50 leads per request; each message capped at 3,000 characters.
- 02The homepage is read before AI, so judgement rests on facts; failed loads are recorded, never invented.
- 03Free email domains are detected and the score lowered by 10 points.
- 04Score is 55% fit plus 45% intent, computed in code; tier cut-offs at 70 and 45.
- 05Spam, vendor pitches and job seekers are disqualified by rule.
- 06An unreadable AI answer goes to needs review instead of a guess.
- 07The lead text is passed to the model as data, not instructions.
04The 8 checks
Stress test
The 8 checks we run on every workflow, and you can run too. A check marked Not needed says why.
- Status
- Not yet0 of 6 that apply have a recorded pass
- Last run
- No recorded run yet
- Model review
- Still open
Checks marked Not yet are still open. One of them was seen in the workflow design on 23 Oct 2026; a check shows Passed only once its test run is recorded.
ST8Rules around the AI
Status: Not yet
Seen in the workflow design on 23 Oct 2026. The recorded test run is still open.
0 passed · 2 not needed · 6 not yet
What we testWe show what we tested, never the test data. The example below is made up.
05Test replay
How to test it
Before you trust a workflow, try to break it. The sample record runs the route step by step. Each break test below gets its own replay once its recorded run exists.
- Record
- LEAD-0142
- Data
- Sample run, made-up data
01Lead arrives
In at the webhook from ops@fernway.example
Done02Tidy and cap the fields
Message within 3,000 characters
Done03Read the company homepage
Homepage read: help desk software for clinics
Done04AI scores and drafts a reply
Fit 80, intent 70; reply drafted
Done05Score, tier, owner, deadline
Score 75.5 in code: tier A, owner and deadline set
Done06Routed lead and reply draft
In the sales inbox; a person sends the reply
Sales inboxArrived
LEAD-0142 reached the last station: Sales inbox. In the sales inbox; a person sends the reply.
Sample run on made-up data. No stress-test run is recorded yet, so this plays the example, not a test. Nothing runs live.
The break tests for this workflow
- ST3Not needed
Same input sent twice
Returns a result only: writes and sends nothing.
- ST2Not yet
Instructions hidden in the input
No recorded run to replay yet.
- ST4Not yet
A connected service fails
No recorded run to replay yet.
- ST8Not yet
The AI returns a broken answer
Seen in the workflow design. No recorded run to replay yet.
06Example
The example, in and out
Made-up data, written to show the steps; no recorded run stands behind it yet. Fernway is a made-up small software company, and its address ends in .example, so it cannot belong to a real business.
InputExample
Example on made-up data: a lead from ops@fernway.example. Message: we answer about 300 support emails a week and want them sorted before the team starts. Can we talk this month? Homepage: help desk software for clinics.
OutputExample
Fit 80 and intent 70 from the AI step. Score 75.5, computed in code as 55% fit plus 45% intent: tier A. Owner set by region and segment, a response deadline set by the tier rule, and a reply draft waiting for a person.
07Limits
When not to automate this
- If a few leads a week arrive, a person can qualify them faster than a build pays back.
- It scores and routes. It does not send the reply: the draft waits for a person.
08What you need
What you need to run it
| Tool | Access |
|---|---|
| Your form, chat tool or CRM | Post each new lead to one webhook |
| Public company websites | Read the homepage title and description |
| OpenRouter | One API key with a credit limit, for the scoring step |
| Google Sheets | Optional: write a test log |
- Where it runs
- In n8n, self-hosted or n8n cloud.
- Model calls
- 1 model call per lead.
- Running costs
- Yours, paid to each service directly. Scope in writing first. A quote before any build. No prices on the site yet.
How to adapt it
Changes we have made or tested on this workflow.
- 01Swap the AI score for fixed scoring rules and an outreach tool's enrichment. That rule-only version is built but not live.
What changed
- ContentFirst version, written from the 23 Oct 2026 catalog.
09FAQ
Questions people ask about it
Does AI decide which leads matter?
No. AI returns fit and intent scores and a reply draft. Code computes the score as 55% fit plus 45% intent, sets the tier at cut-offs of 70 and 45, and picks the owner and the deadline.
What happens to spam and job seekers?
Fixed rules disqualify spam, vendor pitches and job seekers, so they never reach a sales rep's list.
What if the model returns something unreadable?
The lead goes to needs review instead of a guess, and a person decides.
Does it send the first reply?
No. It drafts the reply. A person reads it and sends it.
10Related
Where to go next
Use cases
7 steps
Sales
Turn a deal request into a branded proposal PDF and CRM dealAI in one step only: reading pasted deal notes (chat version only)
8 steps
Can you automate it?
Stuck on your version of this workflow?
Bring the step that does not work. In 30 minutes you get a straight answer and the next step. If you would rather have it built, tell us your tools and the rules you already follow. Scope in writing first. A quote before any build. No prices on the site yet.