10 Essential n8n Workflows Every Business Should Automate
Discover ten battle-tested n8n automations that consistently save teams hours each week. Each workflow blueprint includes the trigger, the value it delivers, and the nodes we recommend when you are ready to build.
Lead Capture -> CRM Enrichment
Route website form submissions straight into your CRM with complete context.
Why it matters
Eliminates manual CSV uploads and ensures sales gets enriched leads within seconds.
Recommended Steps
- Trigger from Webhook/Form node, sanitize text, and standardize company names.
- Enrich with Clearbit, Apollo, or another firmographic API to attach headcount and industry.
- Auto-create the contact in HubSpot/Salesforce, tag the source campaign, and notify the owner.
Customer Onboarding Checklist
Deliver a consistent welcome experience for every new paying customer.
Why it matters
Saves CS teams ~5 hours each week and boosts activation conversions.
Recommended Steps
- Listen for payment success events from Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, or Paddle.
- Post personalized welcome messages in Slack/Teams including kickoff resources.
- Create a task bundle in Notion, Asana, or ClickUp with due dates and owners.
Recurring KPI Digest
Send stakeholders a weekly automation digest with the latest metrics.
Why it matters
Replaces spreadsheet screenshot marathons with a single automated email.
Recommended Steps
- Schedule a Cron node to pull metrics from Postgres, Google Analytics, or Metabase.
- Aggregate key indicators, compute deltas, and format a branded HTML summary.
- Send personalized versions to each stakeholder list and archive to a knowledge base.
Ticket Triage & Auto-Response
Classify inbound support tickets and reply with the right level of context.
Why it matters
Cuts first-response time by 60% and surfaces VIP conversations instantly.
Recommended Steps
- Ingest tickets from Zendesk, Intercom, or Gmail labels and run language/intent detection.
- Route urgent cases to the right queue, create a Slack escalation, and log sentiment scores.
- Send AI-assisted acknowledgement emails that include relevant help-center articles.
E-commerce Order Operations
Keep inventory, fulfillment, and finance systems synchronized after every order.
Why it matters
Prevents stockouts and removes the need for daily reconciliation spreadsheets.
Recommended Steps
- Watch Shopify/WooCommerce orders, validate payment status, and normalize SKU data.
- Update inventory levels in ERP or Airtable and trigger purchase orders when thresholds hit.
- Send packing slips to the 3PL while logging revenue + tax entries to the accounting system.
Marketing Campaign Warm-Up
Launch coordinated campaigns with zero copy/paste across channels.
Why it matters
Guarantees every launch hits the right audiences simultaneously.
Recommended Steps
- Fetch approved campaign assets from Notion or Google Drive and generate UTM links.
- Create scheduled posts in LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and email platforms with proper tracking.
- Notify sales with talking points, enablement collateral, and a CRM call list.
Finance Receipts & Compliance Locker
Collect receipts automatically and store them in an audit-ready workspace.
Why it matters
Gives finance real-time spend visibility and simplifies quarterly closes.
Recommended Steps
- Listen for card transactions via Ramp, Brex, or Expensify APIs and request matching receipts.
- OCR uploaded files, extract totals, and validate VAT/tax IDs.
- File everything in a structured drive/Notion database with policy tags and reviewer assignments.
Data Hygiene Guardian
Keep critical datasets clean by flagging duplicates, missing properties, or stale records.
Why it matters
Protects dashboards from silent data quality drift.
Recommended Steps
- Run scheduled scans against CRM or warehouse tables to identify anomalies.
- Auto-merge duplicates, normalize naming conventions, and refresh reference data sets.
- Publish a change log to Slack and create owner follow-ups for unresolved records.
Executive Daily Briefing
Provide leadership with a curated morning update in under five minutes.
Why it matters
Keeps decision makers aligned without extra meetings.
Recommended Steps
- Aggregate revenue, product usage, and incident data from multiple sources.
- Generate plain-language highlights plus risk alerts using OpenAI or Claude nodes.
- Deliver to email, Slack, and mobile push, then store the archive for compliance.
Employee Offboarding Automation
Turn off access, capture knowledge, and notify stakeholders when someone exits.
Why it matters
Reduces security risk and guarantees HR/legal steps never slip through the cracks.
Recommended Steps
- Trigger from an HRIS status change or signed offboarding checklist.
- Deactivate SaaS accounts, reassign assets, and collect documentation in one workflow.
- Send closure summaries to IT, finance, and the departing team lead with next steps.
Operational Tips
Governance
Document owners for every workflow, add version notes, and rerun tests monthly.Monitoring
Enable error triggers, push alerts to on-call channels, and log metrics to a warehouse table.Iteration
Pair every automation with a measurable KPI so you know when to double down or refactor.Build these workflows faster
Browse our ready-to-import templates, or follow step-by-step tutorials to launch your automation stack.