Pipeline recovery follow-up system.
A follow-up automation that surfaces deals stalled in specific pipeline stages and re-engages them through SMS and email until they close or disqualify.
the problem
Leads stall silently in every sales pipeline. A deal stuck at 'proposal sent' for three weeks is usually not coming back without intervention, but the sales team does not have the bandwidth to chase every one. The client needed an automated follow-up layer that could watch the pipeline, catch stalls at specific stages, and re-engage leads through the channels they already used.
the approach
Built on Airtable as the pipeline state layer, with n8n and Make.com orchestrating the follow-up logic across stages. Wired RingCentral for SMS follow-ups and Instantly.ai for email, with stage-specific cadences so a lead stuck at 'demo booked' got a different message from one stuck at 'proposal sent.' Built primarily solo with team support for integration points and QA.
the outcome
Completed and handed off before full deployment, so no production metrics. The system was built end to end and ready to run; verifying outcomes would require checking in with the client team.
the lessons
Pipeline recovery systems need stage-aware logic, not a generic 'hasn't moved in 14 days' rule. The reason a deal stalls at discovery is different from why it stalls at contract, and the message has to match the stage or it gets ignored.
stack
- Airtable ·
- n8n ·
- RingCentral (SMS) ·
- Instantly.ai (email) ·
- Make.com