Case study · Lead & Sales

Inquiry triage for a real estate agency that replies at once and routes each lead

It reads every inquiry, sorts it into buying, selling, renting or general, sends a personal reply, and posts serious leads to the right team's channel.

The problem

Inquiries arrive through forms and email all day, and they all look the same until someone reads them. A cash buyer with a $1.2M budget lands next to someone who is just browsing. A seller who needs a fast valuation looks like a general question.

Sorting them by hand is slow and inconsistent. The best leads wait while the agent works through everything else, and in real estate the first agent to respond often wins the deal.

How it works

When an inquiry arrives, the system writes a personal reply that refers to what the person asked for. An AI step classifies the inquiry as buying, selling, renting or general.

A router then sends each lead down its own path. Buyers go to the buying channel, sellers to selling and renters to renting, each with an instant alert. General inquiries are logged without interrupting anyone. Every inquiry gets its reply and lands in the master sheet.

n8n workflow: webhook, AI model, code step, append row to sheet, then a switch that routes selling, renting, buying and general inquiries to separate Slack messages before responding — The triage workflow. The switch sends each category to its own channel.

Slack buying_leads channel with a new buying lead from an investor looking for rental properties, with the lead's name and the posting account blurred — A buying lead in the buying channel. Names are blurred.

Slack renting_leads channel with a new renting lead looking for a furnished apartment, with the lead's name and account details blurred — A renting lead in the renting channel.

Slack selling_leads channel with a new selling lead asking for a valuation, with the lead's name and street address blurred — A selling lead. The address is blurred.

One buying lead, end to end

A family looking for their first home sent an inquiry. The system classified it as buying, posted it to the buying channel and sent a personal reply.

The triage workflow after the run, with the buying path highlighted — The buying path after the run.

Slack buying_leads channel with the new lead from a family looking for their first home, with names blurred — The lead in the buying channel.

JSON response with the personal reply thanking the family for reaching out, with the first name blurred — The reply the family received, signed by the agency team.

Google Sheet named Real Estate Leads with name, email, message, category and submitted columns, with names, emails and an address blurred — The master sheet with every inquiry and its category. Personal details are blurred.

What a person still handles

The conversation with the buyer, seller or renter. The system replies first, an agent follows up.
General inquiries, which are logged for someone to read when they have time.
Viewings, valuations and offers.

Built with

n8n
OpenAI
Google Sheets
Slack

n8n, an OpenAI model for the reply and the classification, Google Sheets for the master log, and a Slack channel for each team.

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