Back to Templates
Eliminate 90% of manual work in procurement by automating quote requests, response tracking, price extraction, and supplier follow-ups. This complete automation handles everything from sending personalized emails to extracting pricing data with AI and sending WhatsApp reminders—so you can focus on decision-making, not data entry.
This all-in-one workflow transforms a 5-hour manual process into a 10-minute review task, saving 15-20 hours per month while improving supplier response rates by 30%.
How it works
This workflow contains 4 independent automation modules running on separate schedules:
Quote Request Sender (Manual trigger)
Reads supplier list from Google Sheets
Sends personalized emails via Gmail with category and deadline
Logs all requests with timestamps to tracking sheet
Response Monitor (Hourly schedule)
Automatically checks Gmail for supplier replies with attachments
Updates tracking sheet status to "Quote Received"
Zero manual email monitoring required
AI Price Extraction (Manual trigger)
Downloads PDF/Excel attachments from emails
Extracts text using n8n's built-in parser
Sends to OpenAI GPT-4o-mini to identify products, prices, quantities, currencies
Saves structured data to Price Comparison sheet
WhatsApp Follow-ups (Daily at 9 AM)
Checks for non-responsive suppliers
Sends smart reminders at Day 3, 5, and 7 with escalating urgency
Falls back to email if no phone number
Logs all follow-up history
Each module shares data through Google Sheets while running independently.
Set up steps
Time to set up: 20-30 minutes
Create two Google Sheets: "Quote Tracking" (with columns: supplier_name, supplier_email, category, request_date, status, quote_received, phone_number, last_follow_up, follow_up_count) and "Price Comparison" (with columns: supplier_name, supplier_email, product_name, price, currency, quantity, extracted_date, source_file)
Connect credentials: Gmail OAuth, Google Sheets OAuth (same account), OpenAI API key, Twilio Account SID + Auth Token
Update all Google Sheet IDs in every Google Sheets node (8 nodes total across all modules)
Configure Twilio WhatsApp sandbox: Go to Twilio Console → Messaging → WhatsApp → Send join code from your phone → Update "From" number in Send WhatsApp node
Add 2-3 test suppliers to Tracking Sheet with your email addresses using + trick ([email protected]) and phone numbers in international format
Test each module: Execute Quote Sender → Reply to test email with PDF → Execute AI Extraction → Set supplier date to 3 days ago → Test Follow-ups
Activate schedules for Response Monitor (hourly) and Follow-ups (daily at 9 AM)
Detailed node configurations and troubleshooting tips are included in sticky notes throughout the workflow canvas.
Requirements
Gmail account with API access
Google Sheets (2 sheets)
OpenAI API account (~$5-15/month)
Twilio account with WhatsApp (~$10-20/month)
n8n (any version supporting HTTP Request node)
Who is this for
Procurement teams managing multiple supplier quotes
Small businesses comparing vendor prices
Operations managers handling RFQs
Purchasing departments drowning in email attachments
Anyone collecting and tracking supplier pricing at scale
Time savings: From 5 hours to 10 minutes per quote cycle (90% reduction)
Response rate improvement: 50% → 80% with automated follow-ups
Accuracy: 95%+ AI extraction accuracy vs 5-10% manual data entry errors