AI SDR
Researches every prospect, writes the first touch, and drafts replies to every answer. Role: Sales Development Rep.
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Researched northwind-dental.example3 facts from their site: new clinic in Leeds, online booking, hiring a practice manager
Draft readyFirst line + 3-step sequence for Ana Ruiz, Ops leadFit 8/10: matches your ICP (multi-site clinics, 20-80 staff)
Draft readySkipped harbor-freight-co.exampleFit 3/10: outside your ICP (enterprise logistics)
LoggedReply from Tom (Brightline Studio): “Can you send pricing?”Intent: question → answer drafted in the same thread
Draft readyReply from j.park@…: “Please remove me”Marked do-not-contact; no draft created
Logged
Implementation in your business
Between your lead list and your inbox: it reads a Google Sheet of leads and leaves drafts in Gmail; the Reply Handler watches replies in the same inbox.
Where it plugs in
Prospect research, a personalised 3-email sequence and fit score per lead, plus reply handling. Email 1 and every reply answer become Gmail drafts; follow-ups 2 and 3 are written to your sheet.
What it needs
- n8n (Cloud or self-hosted)
- Google account: Sheets + Gmail
- OpenAI API key
- Your offer, ICP and signature (Config)
What it outputs
- Gmail draft of email 1 (with the first line); emails 2-3 in your sheet
- Reply drafts in the same thread
- Fit score and status per lead in the sheet
- Replies log, with do-not-contact rows
Time saved (estimate)
≈ 43 h
per month at 50 prospects a week, 15 min by hand vs 3 min review. See assumptions.
Setup: about 15 minutes on n8n Cloud
Three steps, no code. The setup guide has the full checklist.
Pick the AI SDR
Start the trial on Starter (this employee) or Workforce (all five). The download link and guide arrive by email.
Import it
n8n Cloud or self-hosted: Workflows → Import from file. No n8n? Paste the instructions into a Custom GPT or Claude Project.
- 2 workflow files
- Sheet templates (CSV)
Connect your tools
Sign in once per service, then fill in the Config node with your details.
- Google Sheets
- OpenAI
- Gmail
- Config: your details and rules
How it works
Import-tested and test-executed with stubbed services on n8n 2.44 before release.
Grounded personalisation. The prospecting model only sees the prospect's own website (and news if enabled) and is told never to invent facts.
Every reply gets a next step. Interested, question, objection, referral and not-now replies get a drafted answer in the same Gmail thread; unsubscribe, not-interested, bounces and out-of-office replies never do (enforced in code, not only in the prompt).
Two workflows, one sheet. Leads and Replies tabs in the same Google Sheet give you a simple pipeline view.
What you get
- ai-sdr-1-prospecting.n8n.json: Prospecting (the Cold Email Research Agent): Sheet of leads → website research (+ optional news) → first line, 3-email sequence, fit score → email 1 as a Gmail draft (emails 2-3 in the sheet) → sheet.
- ai-sdr-2-reply-handler.n8n.json: Reply Handler: new replies in Gmail → intent (interested, question, objection, not now, unsubscribe...) → reply draft in the same thread → Replies log. Unsubscribes are logged as do-not-contact.
- No-code version: Custom GPT / Claude Project instructions
- Prompt library, sheet templates and a PDF setup guide
What it's worth to you
The value is time: the employee does the first pass and you keep the review. Two worked examples, every input an assumption:
| Assumption (estimate) | Light outbound | Active outbound |
|---|---|---|
| Prospects researched per week | 20 | 50 |
| Manual minutes per prospect | 8 | 15 |
| Review minutes (you still review) | 3 | 3 |
| Share the employee handles | 100% | 100% |
| Hourly cost of whoever does it | $25 | $40 |
| AI running cost per prospect | $0.05 | $0.05 |
| Hours taken over per week | 1.7 h | 10.0 h |
| Value of that time per month, after AI costs | ≈ $176 | ≈ $1,723 |
| After the $19 Starter plan | ≈ $157 | ≈ $1,704 |
Try your own numbers
More assumptions
Formula: hours/week = volume × share handled × (manual − review minutes) ÷ 60 · hours/month = hours/week × 52 ÷ 12 · net = hours/month × hourly cost − AI running costs − plan cost. Time saved only; no claims about revenue, replies or hiring outcomes.
Questions
Does it send emails?
No. Both workflows only create Gmail drafts.
Is this the Cold Email Research Agent?
The prospecting workflow is the Cold Email Research Agent. The AI SDR adds the Reply Handler, a Replies log and the extended playbook. Workforce includes both.
Does it work with Outlook?
Not out of the box. Swap the Gmail nodes for n8n's Microsoft Outlook nodes (same fields).
Do I need n8n?
For the automated version, yes: n8n Cloud or the free self-hosted edition. Every employee also ships a no-code version for a ChatGPT Custom GPT or a Claude Project.
Does it act on its own?
It works in drafts and logs. Anything that reaches a customer, candidate or prospect is a draft you review and send.
What does it cost?
Starter is $19/month for this employee, Workforce $49/month for all five. Both have a 7-day free trial. You also pay your own AI usage (usually cents per item) and your n8n plan if you use n8n Cloud.
Guardrails
- Review every draft before sending. AI can misread a website or a reply.
- Honour opt-outs immediately: rows with next_action =
do not contactmust be removed from all future sequences. - Cold email law differs by country (GDPR/ePrivacy in the EU/UK, CAN-SPAM in the US). Email business contacts with a legitimate interest, identify yourself, offer an easy opt-out. Not legal advice.
- Lead data and replies are sent to your LLM provider. Check this fits your privacy policy.