Restflow.io

### Introduction

Sales teams often spend a significant amount of time manually creating proposals for prospects. This repetitive task not only delays the sales process but can also introduce inconsistencies and human errors. Automating proposal creation ensures timely, standardized, and personalized proposals, freeing up the sales team’s time to focus on closing deals.

In this guide, we will build a robust automation workflow using **n8n**, an open-source workflow automation tool, to auto-create sales proposals. This automation can integrate with common sales and CRM tools like **HubSpot** or **Pipedrive**, extract lead data, generate proposals with dynamic content, and deliver them as PDFs either through email or stored in cloud storage.

This workflow benefits:
– Sales teams aiming to reduce manual proposal work
– Operations specialists looking to standardize sales documents
– Automation engineers wanting a scalable, customizeable sales enablement tool

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### Tools & Services Integrated

– **n8n:** Workflow automation platform
– **CRM system (e.g., HubSpot, Pipedrive):** To trigger proposal generation on new deal creation
– **Google Docs or Microsoft Word (Cloud):** Template for the proposal with placeholders
– **Google Drive or Dropbox:** Storage for generated proposals
– **Gmail or SMTP Email:** Sending proposals to clients
– Optional: **Slack or Microsoft Teams:** Notify internal teams after proposal generation

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### Overview of Workflow

1. **Trigger:** New deal or opportunity created in CRM
2. **Fetch Deal Details:** Retrieve relevant lead and deal information
3. **Populate Proposal Template:** Use a cloud document template with placeholders filled dynamically
4. **Export Proposal as PDF:** Convert the populated document to a PDF file
5. **Store Proposal:** Upload PDF to cloud storage for record keeping
6. **Send Proposal Email:** Email the PDF to the prospect with a personalized message
7. **Notify Team:** Optional internal notification for tracking

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### Step-by-Step Technical Tutorial

#### Prerequisites
– Access to n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
– CRM account with API access (HubSpot or Pipedrive example)
– Google account with Docs and Drive enabled
– Email service configured in n8n (Gmail or any SMTP)

#### Step 1: Setup Trigger – New Deal Created

– Add a **Webhook** node or use a CRM-specific trigger node (e.g., HubSpot Trigger Node in n8n).
– Configure it to listen for new deals or opportunities.
– Example: In HubSpot, subscribe to the `deal.creation` event.
– Test the webhook by creating a test deal in the CRM.

#### Step 2: Get Deal Details

– Add a **HTTP Request** or dedicated CRM API node to fetch full deal info.
– Pull fields like deal name, contact name/email, deal value, close date.
– Parse and store the data for template input.

#### Step 3: Populate Proposal Template

– Prepare a **Google Docs template** with placeholders (e.g., `{{client_name}}`, `{{deal_amount}}`).
– Use the **Google Docs node** in n8n to create a copy of this template.
– Use the **Google Docs API** with the `batchUpdate` method to replace placeholders with actual deal data.

Alternative approach:
– Use a **Google Docs Document Merge** community node or third-party APIs for dynamic content.

#### Step 4: Export Document as PDF

– After the template is populated, use the **Google Drive node** to export the Google Doc to PDF.
– Configure export settings (page orientation, quality) if needed.
– Obtain direct download URL for the PDF file.

#### Step 5: Store Proposal for Records

– Optionally copy the generated PDF file to a designated folder in Google Drive or Dropbox.
– Name files systematically (e.g., `Proposal_{{deal_id}}_{{date}}.pdf`) for easy retrieval.

#### Step 6: Email the Proposal

– Use the **Gmail node** or SMTP node in n8n.
– Compose an email template with dynamic content:
– Subject: “Proposal for {{client_name}} – {{deal_name}}”
– Body: Personalized message referencing the deal.
– Attach generated PDF using the binary data from Google Drive export.
– Send email to the prospect’s email address extracted from deal data.

#### Step 7: Notify Internal Team (Optional)

– Add a **Slack node** or **Microsoft Teams node**.
– Post a message notifying sales managers that a proposal was created and sent.

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### Detailed Breakdown of Each Node

| Node | Purpose | Key Configuration Details |
|————————–|—————————————–|———————————————————–|
| Webhook / CRM Trigger | Start automation on new deal | Set up webhook URL or HubSpot/Pipedrive event subscription|
| CRM API Node | Fetch complete deal and contact info | Use appropriate Auth; Fields: deal name, amount, contact |
| Google Docs – Copy | Duplicate proposal template | Specify source template document ID |
| Google Docs – Replace | Substitute placeholders with real data | Use `batchUpdate` method to search & replace placeholders |
| Google Drive – Export PDF| Convert document to PDF | Check export mimeType, receive file binary |
| Google Drive – Move/Copy | Organize proposals in folder | Specify folder ID, use consistent file naming conventions |
| Gmail / SMTP Node | Email PDF to client | Configure sender, dynamic recipient, email body, attach PDF|
| Slack / Teams | Internal notification | Set channel, customize message content |

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### Common Errors and Troubleshooting Tips

– **Authentication Failures:** Ensure all API credentials are valid and refreshed. OAuth tokens may expire; configure token refresh.
– **Placeholder Not Replacing:** Confirm placeholder syntax exactly matches template and replacement data keys.
– **File Export Permissions:** Google Docs and Drive permissions must allow the API user to read, write, and export documents.
– **Attachment Issues:** Make sure the binary data from exported PDF is correctly passed as attachment in email node.
– **Trigger Missed Events:** Check webhook URLs exposed publicly and CRM subscription configurations to avoid missed triggers.

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### Scaling and Adaptations

– **Multiple Proposal Types:** Maintain multiple templates and add logic nodes to select template based on deal parameters (e.g., industry, deal size).
– **Multi-language Support:** Store templates in different languages and select based on client localization data.
– **Approval Steps:** Integrate a manual approval node or Slack message requiring manager approval before sending.
– **CRM Integration Expansion:** Extend workflow to update deal status after proposal sent or link storage URL back to CRM.
– **Analytics and Reporting:** Log each proposal generation event in a dedicated Google Sheet or database for sales performance tracking.

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### Summary / Bonus Tips

Automating proposal creation with n8n dramatically cuts down sales cycle friction while maintaining a personal touch for each client. The workflow can start simple—trigger on a new deal, fill a template, email proposal—and evolve into a sophisticated multi-step orchestration with approval gates, multiple integrations, and analytics.

**Bonus Tip:** If Google Docs API complexity is a blocker, consider using PDF generation APIs (e.g., DocSpring, PDFMonkey) that accept JSON payloads and template IDs for simpler dynamic document creation.

By leveraging n8n’s flexible and extendable architecture, your sales team can spend less time on paperwork and more time closing deals — a scalable win for your startup’s growth.