Build Your First Workflow: Capture Leads and Send Email Alerts

🚀 Why Start Here?

Every modern team collects leads. It could be from a website, a landing page, a chatbot, or a Typeform.

But manually checking for submissions and copying data into a CRM or sending alert emails? That's a productivity killer.

In this chapter, you'll learn how to build your first real-world n8n automation — a simple lead capture workflow that collects data from a form and sends an instant alert email.

It's beginner-friendly, instantly useful, and forms the foundation for bigger automations down the line.

🧩 What You'll Build

Here's the flow we'll create:

Webhook trigger → Capture form data → Format message → Send email

You'll be able to:

• Create a trigger to catch form submissions
• Process incoming data (like name, email, message)
• Send a notification email to your inbox or team
• See your full logic visually inside n8n

This is the first automation many teams start with — because it delivers immediate value and scales easily.

🛠️ Prerequisites

To follow along, you'll need:

• A running instance of n8n (cloud or local)
• A form tool (like Tally, Typeform, Webflow, or a custom frontend that can send webhook requests)
• An email account (SMTP or Gmail API works)

🔧 Step-by-Step: Creating Your First Workflow

Step 1: Add a Webhook Node

In n8n, start with a blank workflow. Add the Webhook node. This will generate a unique URL that accepts POST requests (i.e., data sent from your form).

• Set HTTP Method to POST
• Add expected fields (e.g., name, email, message)
• Copy the test webhook URL

Now, go to your form tool and configure the submission action to POST data to this webhook URL.

Click "Execute Workflow" in n8n to start listening.

Step 2: Submit a Test Form

Fill out your form and submit it. You should see the incoming data arrive in the webhook node — name, email, message, and any other fields.

If it worked, click "Stop Execution" and save the workflow.

Step 3: Add a Set Node (Optional Formatting)

Use the Set node to clean or organize the incoming data. For example:

• Combine firstName and lastName into a full name
• Add a timestamp
• Format the message for better readability

This isn't required but helps when passing info into emails or databases.

Step 4: Add an Email Node

Next, add the Email node. n8n supports SMTP, Gmail, and others.

• Choose your email account or set up credentials
• In the To field, use your address or your team's shared inbox
• Use dynamic fields like {{$json["email"]}} or {{$json["message"]}} in the body

Subject example:

New Lead from {{$json["name"]}}

Click Execute Node to send a test email. If it lands in your inbox — you're set.

Step 5: Activate the Workflow

When everything works, click "Activate" to publish the workflow.

Now, every time your form is submitted, your team gets an email in real-time. No delays. No spreadsheets. No missed leads.

🎯 What You Just Learned

You now know how to:

• Create and configure webhook-based workflows
• Handle incoming data from external apps
• Format and pass data between steps
• Automate email alerts without code

This simple workflow can evolve into more complex flows — saving leads to Airtable, triggering Slack alerts, or even auto-enriching leads with Clearbit.

🔗 What's Next?

In Chapter 3, we go deeper.

You'll learn how to connect APIs like Notion, Airtable, and Slack — so you can store leads in structured formats, trigger team alerts, and begin layering more automation.

👉 Continue to Chapter 3: Connecting APIs — Automating with Notion, Airtable, and Slack