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Project · n8n · Sales

Inbound Lead Response Tracker

Answers one question: are we replying to inbound leads fast enough, and at all? It records every lead, watches Gmail for the first reply, measures it against an SLA, warns owners before a breach, and reports weekly.

Status: built in n8n; logic tested with mock data, not yet run against live Gmail or Sheets. The dashboard below uses mock data.

The problem

A demo request that waits six hours often goes cold. Most small teams don't know their real response time, especially for leads that arrive in the evening.

How it works, in plain words

You a person on your team   AI an AI step   Auto runs by itself

  1. Auto

    A lead comes in

    From your web form, a sheet row, or your enquiry inbox.

  2. Auto

    The clock starts

    Every lead gets a reply deadline (4 hours by default).

  3. Auto

    It watches your inbox

    Every 15 minutes it looks for your first reply.

  4. You

    You get a nudge

    A warning at 75% of the deadline; your manager is told if it's missed.

  5. Auto

    Response time is measured

    A live dashboard and a weekly email show how fast you really reply.

A lead's journeyNew inside the deadlineAt risk 75% of the time goneResponded on time or lateNo response deadline missedEach stage alerts once, never spams
Without it
  • Nobody knows the real response time
  • Evening leads wait until morning
  • Misses discovered weeks later
With it
  • Every first reply is timed
  • Warnings before a deadline is missed
  • A weekly view of response time by hour, source and owner
See the real build (n8n)
Workflow diagram: leads arrive from a sheet, a webhook or a Gmail label; every 15 minutes Gmail is checked for the first reply, statuses and alerts are updated, and a dashboard and weekly email are produced.
  • Three ways in: a sheet row, a webhook from your form, or a Gmail label on your enquiry inbox
  • Every 15 minutes it finds your first reply and calculates response minutes against the SLA (default 4 hours, optional business hours)
  • Alerts the owner at 75% of the SLA, and the manager on a breach, once each
  • Spots leads who wrote back and are still waiting on you
  • A form to log reasons, close, mark "not a lead", reassign or reopen

Statuses

StatusMeaning
NewNo reply yet, inside the SLA
At Risk75% of the SLA has passed
No ResponseSLA breached, no reply
Responded / Responded LateFirst reply inside / after the SLA

The dashboard (sample, mock data)

Share answered within SLA, median and p90 first response, breaches, at-risk leads, response time by the hour a lead arrived (shows evening gaps), and breakdowns by source and owner.

Open the full dashboard · See the weekly email

Limits

  • Only sees replies from connected Gmail mailboxes, not a CRM or helpdesk
  • Counts any reply as a response; it doesn't judge the content
  • Business-hours mode ignores public holidays
  • The live dashboard needs authentication added before sharing

How fast does your team really reply?

We can connect this to your inbox and forms in days, not months.

Discuss this workflow