🤖 Automate Lead Qualification & Multi-Channel Follow-up with AI (BANT)

How it works

This workflow is your automated sales assistant, designed to intelligently qualify incoming leads and route them to the most appropriate follow-up channel. It uses the powerful BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) framework, powered by Google Gemini AI, to score leads as 'hot', 'mid', or 'cold', ensuring your sales team focuses on the most promising opportunities.

Here's a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Lead Capture: A public Form Trigger collects essential lead information, including their name, email, what they want to build, their budget, desired start time, and job role. These questions are specifically designed to gather BANT data.
2. AI Lead Scoring: The collected data is sent to Google Gemini. A detailed prompt instructs the AI to act as a Lead Scoring Expert, evaluating each BANT component individually and then assigning an overall 'hot', 'mid', or 'cold' score based on predefined criteria.
3. Intelligent Routing: A Switch node acts as the central router. Based on the AI's 'hot', 'mid', or 'cold' score, the workflow directs the lead down one of three distinct follow-up paths.
4. Hot Leads (Calendar Booking): For highly qualified 'hot' leads, the workflow immediately redirects them to your calendar booking link, making it easy for them to schedule a direct conversation.
5. Mid Leads (WhatsApp Engagement): For 'mid' priority leads, Google Gemini generates a personalized, pre-filled WhatsApp message summarizing their inquiry. The lead is then redirected to a WhatsApp chat with your sales team, allowing for quick, informal engagement.
6. Cold Leads (Nurturing Email): For 'cold' leads who might be in an early research phase, Google Gemini crafts a helpful, non-salesy follow-up email. This email provides valuable resources (like templates or community links) and is sent via Gmail, keeping them engaged without pressure.

Set up steps

Setup time: ~10-15 minutes

This workflow requires connecting your Google AI and Gmail accounts, and customizing several nodes to fit your sales process.

1. Get Your Google AI API Key:

   • Visit Google AI Studio at aistudio.google.com/app/apikey.
   • Click "Create API key in new project" and copy the key.
   • In the workflow, select the Score Lead node. Click the Credential dropdown and select + Create New Credential.
   • Paste your key into the API Key field and Save.
   • Repeat this for the Write Placeholder WA Message and Write Follow up Email nodes, selecting the credential you just created.

2. Connect Your Gmail Account:

   • Select the Send Follow up Email with Gmail node.
   • Click the Credential dropdown and select + Create New Credential to connect your Google account. Follow the prompts to grant n8n access.

3. Customize Lead Scoring Criteria:

   • Go to the Score Lead node.
   • In the Text parameter, carefully review and adapt the BANT Criteria Mapping and Scoring Logic to align with your specific sales process and ideal customer profile. This is crucial for accurate lead qualification.

4. Configure Follow-up Channels:

   • Hot Leads: Select the Calendar Booking Link node. Update the redirectUrl parameter with your personal or team's calendar booking link (e.g., Calendly, Chili Piper).
   • Mid Leads: Select the Phone Number node. Set the whatsapp_phone value to your company's WhatsApp phone number (e.g., +15551234567). You can also customize the pre-filled WhatsApp message by adjusting the prompt in the Write Placeholder WA Message node.
   • Cold Leads: Select the Redirect to Website node. Update the redirectUrl parameter to your company's main website or a relevant resource page (e.g., a free templates page, a blog post). You can also customize the email content and resources shared by adjusting the prompt in the Write Follow up Email node.

5. Activate and Test:

   • Activate the workflow using the toggle at the top right.
   • Go to the Lead Contact Form node and click the "Open Form URL" button.
   • Submit several test applications with different answers (e.g., one "hot" lead, one "mid", one "cold") to ensure the AI scores them correctly and they are routed to the appropriate follow-up action.

Start qualifying and engaging your leads more effectively!