Automate Your Workflow with n8n: A Beginner's Guide

In today's business world, efficiency is key. Every minute you spend performing repetitive tasks is time you could be dedicating to more strategic activities. At Baraut, we specialize in helping businesses automate their processes, and one of our favorite tools for this is n8n.

What is n8n?

n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform that allows you to connect different applications and services. Unlike similar tools, n8n can be installed on your own server, giving you complete control over your data.

A Practical Case: Lead Automation from a Web Form

Let's look at a simple but powerful example: automating the management of leads that come from a contact form on your website.

The Problem

Imagine you have a contact form on your website. When someone fills it out, you want to:

Save their data in your CRM
Send them a confirmation email
Notify your sales team through Slack
Schedule a follow-up in 2 days

Doing this manually for each lead is tedious and prone to errors.

The Solution with n8n

Here's how you can automate this process with n8n:

Step 1: Configure the Trigger

We use the "Webhook" node to create an endpoint that will receive the form data:

{
  "name": "{{$json.name}}",
  "email": "{{$json.email}}",
  "phone": "{{$json.phone}}",
  "message": "{{$json.message}}"
}

Step 2: Save to CRM

We connect with our CRM (for example, HubSpot) using its API:

POST /contacts/v1/contact
{
  "properties": [
    { "property": "email", "value": "{{$json.email}}" },
    { "property": "firstname", "value": "{{$json.name}}" },
    { "property": "phone", "value": "{{$json.phone}}" },
    { "property": "message", "value": "{{$json.message}}" }
  ]
}

Step 3: Send Confirmation Email

We use the "Send Email" node to send an automatic confirmation:

To: {{$json.email}}
Subject: Thank you for contacting Baraut
Body: Hello {{$json.name}}, we have received your message and will get back to you as soon as possible.

Step 4: Notify the Team via Slack

We send a notification to a specific Slack channel:

Channel: #new-leads
Message: 🎯 New lead received:
Name: {{$json.name}}
Email: {{$json.email}}
Phone: {{$json.phone}}

Step 5: Schedule Follow-up

Finally, we schedule a follow-up task in 2 days using the "Set" node:

{
  "task": "Follow up with {{$json.name}}",
  "date": "{{$today + 2days}}",
  "responsible": "sales_team",
  "contact": "{{$json.email}}"
}

Benefits of This Automation

Time Saving: What used to take 15 minutes per lead now happens instantly.
Consistency: Each lead receives the same high-quality process.
Error Reduction: You eliminate the risk of human errors in data entry.
Scalability: The system works just as well with 5 or 500 daily leads.

Conclusion

This is just a sample of what you can achieve with n8n. The possibilities are virtually endless: you can connect hundreds of different applications, from CRMs and marketing tools to billing systems and e-commerce platforms.

At Baraut, we specialize in designing and implementing these types of automations tailored to the specific needs of each business. If you want to know how we can help you automate your processes, contact us and we'll be happy to advise you.

Do you have any questions about n8n or automation in general? Leave us a comment and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.