Proposal Follow-up Drafts with n8n + Claude (free workflow)

What this workflow does

Stop losing deals because nobody followed up. Add a "Proposal" label to any quote you send from Gmail. Every weekday this workflow checks those threads, and if the client hasn't replied in a few days, Claude writes a short follow-up that sounds like you typed it yourself. It's saved as a draft inside the same email thread, and you get one email listing the drafts that are ready. Read, tweak if you like, press Send. After the last follow-up, it stops and reminds you to call instead.

1. Every Weekday at 10 AM starts the run. Workflow Configuration holds your label name, timing, name, business and writing style.
2. Get Proposal Threads finds Gmail threads with your Proposal label from the last 60 days, and Get Full Conversation reads every message in each one.
3. Check Who Replied Last works out, without any database, who wrote last, how many follow-ups you've already sent, how many days have passed, and whether a draft is already waiting. Decide Next Step only lets a thread through when you wrote last and it's been long enough. Threads where the client replied, or where a draft is waiting for you, are skipped.
4. Prepare Follow-up Details adds the follow-up number and a standard backup note. Write Follow-up with Claude writes a 2 to 4 sentence email in the client's language: follow-up 1 is a light nudge, the middle ones offer help or a quick call, and the last one politely closes the loop. If the client said something earlier, like "will check with my partner next week", Claude mentions it.
5. Save Follow-up as Gmail Draft puts the note inside the same thread, to the same people and CC. Note Draft Ready, List Drafts Ready and Tell Me Drafts Are Ready send you one short email listing them.
6. When the maximum number of follow-ups is reached and the client still hasn't replied, Stop Tracking This Thread removes the label and Ask Me to Call the Client emails you a link to the thread so you can pick up the phone.
7. If Claude fails, Use Standard Follow-up takes the error output and drafts a short standard note instead, so nobody is skipped.

Who it is for

Freelancers, agencies, consultants, coaches, contractors, interior designers, event planners, B2B sales teams and anyone who sends quotes or proposals by email.

What you need

• n8n (Cloud or self-hosted)
• A Gmail or Google Workspace account
• An Anthropic API key (one follow-up costs a fraction of a cent)
• n8n (cloud or self-hosted)

The workflow, step by step

Step 1 · Find open proposals

Reads every thread with your Proposal label.

• Every Weekday at 10 AM (Schedule)
• Workflow Configuration (Set)
• Get Proposal Threads (Gmail)
• Get Full Conversation (Gmail)

Step 2 · Check who replied last

Only threads where you wrote last, long enough ago, move on.

• Check Who Replied Last (Set)
• Decide Next Step (Switch)

Step 3 · Write the follow-up

Claude writes a short note, or a standard one if AI fails.

• Prepare Follow-up Details (Set)
• Claude Chat Model (Claude model)
• Write Follow-up with Claude (Basic LLM Chain)
• Use Standard Follow-up (Set)
• Use AI Follow-up (Set)

Step 4 · Save draft and tell you

The draft lands in the same thread, and you get one summary email.

• Save Follow-up as Gmail Draft (Gmail)
• Note Draft Ready (Set)
• List Drafts Ready (Aggregate)
• Tell Me Drafts Are Ready (Gmail)

Step 5 · Stop after the last follow-up

Removes the label and asks you to call.

• Stop Tracking This Thread (Gmail)
• Ask Me to Call the Client (Gmail)

Setup

1. Download the JSON below and import it in n8n (Create workflow > ⋯ > Import from File).
2. In Gmail, create a label called Proposal (or any name you put in Workflow Configuration). Add it to each quote or proposal email you send. Gmail filters can do this for you, for example for every email with "Quote" in the subject.
3. Add a Gmail OAuth2 credential and select it on all six Gmail nodes.
4. Add an Anthropic credential with your API key and select it on Claude Chat Model.
5. Open Workflow Configuration and set yourName, businessName, ownerEmail and, if you like, writingStyle, followUpAfterDays (default 3), maxFollowUps (default 3) and lookBackDays (default 60).
6. Run it once by hand, open Gmail Drafts and read the notes. Then activate the workflow.
7. Test it: add the label to one quote you sent 4+ days ago that got no reply, then run manually. Expect a draft inside that thread and a summary email to ownerEmail. Once the client replies, the next run skips it.

How to customise

• The sample prompt and emails are a starting point, not a fixed format. Rewrite them for your business.
• Write Follow-up with Claude: follow-up rules, or just writingStyle
• Use Standard Follow-up: fallback note
• Tell Me Drafts Are Ready, Ask Me to Call the Client: your emails
• followUpAfterDays, maxFollowUps and Every Weekday at 10 AM: timing
• Timing: change followUpAfterDays and maxFollowUps, or the days and hour in Every Weekday at 10 AM.
• Your voice: describe how you write in writingStyle, for example "Warm, short, mixes Hindi and English like I talk to clients on WhatsApp".
• Auto-send: once you trust the tone, replace Save Follow-up as Gmail Draft with a Gmail node that sends. Keep drafts for big deals.
• Track results: add a Google Sheets node after Save Follow-up as Gmail Draft to log every follow-up.
• Another model: swap Claude Chat Model for OpenAI or Gemini; nothing else changes.

Why Claude

This workflow uses Claude Sonnet 5 through the Anthropic Chat Model sub-node. The whole value of this template is that the follow-up sounds like a real person, not a bot, so writing quality and tone matter more than price or speed here. I compared it with Gemini and OpenAI for this exact job: - Most natural tone. Claude is the strongest of the three at short, casual writing that follows a long list of style rules (no "I hope this email finds you well", no "just circling back", no exclamation marks, contractions, under 70 words) without slipping back into salesy filler. - Follows "don't invent" rules well. The prompt forbids inventing prices, dates or discounts. Claude sticks to what's in the thread, which matters when the email goes to a paying client. - Reads context. It naturally picks up what the client said earlier ("will check with my partner") and uses it, which is what makes a follow-up feel personal. - Low volume, so cost doesn't matter much. A business sends a handful of follow-ups a day, each one under 100 words, so the higher price per token adds up to very little.

Gemini Flash-Lite is cheaper and fine for structured extraction, but its casual writing reads more generic. If you need the lowest possible cost, switch the sub-node to Gemini; nothing else changes.

Troubleshooting

• Credential errors after import: imported workflows never include credentials. Open each node marked red and select your own account.
• Nothing runs on its own: test runs only fire once. Activate the workflow so the trigger keeps running.
• Odd times or dates: set your timezone in Workflow Settings.