HourSaved

Make a weekly "who to follow up with" list from your CRM or spreadsheet

Paste a short export of your leads and quotes, and AI sorts out who is overdue for a follow-up, biggest first, and flags missing data, so open deals stop slipping through the cracks.

Setup
15 min
Saves
About 20 min a use (our estimate)
Level
Medium
Last checked
Works with
Any AI chat, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Any CRM that exports CSV
Step in a real app
Described from the official help page, not run on a real account

Run once on made-up data on with Claude Opus 5.5. One run, not proof.

Version 1 · Draft: not yet approved by the owner · How we test

What this does

Once a week, paste a trimmed export of your open leads and quotes. AI applies your follow-up rule, lists who is overdue, biggest deals first, and flags missing dates or values. You check it against your CRM before reaching out.

Before you start

  • Any AI chat (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot).
  • An export with these columns: company, stage, last contact date, next step, next step date, estimated value, short notes.
  • Setup: about 15 minutes the first time, then about 5 minutes a week (our estimate).
  • Privacy: remove email addresses, phone numbers and personal notes. Use company names or initials.

Steps

  1. Export your records. In HubSpot, open CRM, then Contacts (or Deals), pick your view, and click Export. HubSpot emails you a download link. In Google Sheets, use File, then Download, and pick CSV.
  2. Delete every column except the seven above, and every row for people who asked not to be contacted.
  3. Paste the prompt, add today's date and your rule, then the rows.
  4. Check each "Overdue" row against your CRM. Exports can be a day old.
  5. Fix flagged data gaps in your CRM, so next week's list is cleaner.
  6. Reach out yourself, starting at the top.

The prompt

Prompt · fill the [brackets]
Help me plan this week's sales follow-ups. Use only the rows I paste. Do not guess missing values. Do not contact anyone or send anything.

Today's date: [date]
My follow-up rule: a row is OVERDUE if its next step date is before today, or if it has no next step date and the last contact was more than [7] days ago. Skip rows with stage Won or Lost.

Rows:
[paste your trimmed export]

Give me:
1. OVERDUE: a table sorted by estimated value, highest first: company, stage, days since last contact, days overdue, next step, one-line note.
2. COMING UP THIS WEEK: rows with a next step date in the next 7 days.
3. SKIPPED: rows you left out and why.
4. DATA GAPS: rows with a missing date or value. Write MISSING, never a guess.
Show the dates you used for each day count.

Before and after: the made-up input, then the real output the AI gave us.

Try it with made-up data

Today: Monday, April 8, 2030. Rule: 7 days. Rows (company, stage, last contact, next step, next step date, value, note):

  1. Pinecrest Dental, Quote sent, 2030-03-25, call about quote, 2030-04-01, $2,400, asked about payment plan
  2. Maple & Main Cafe, New inquiry, 2030-04-05, send intro email, 2030-04-09, $600
  3. Ridgeview HOA, Quote sent, 2030-03-12, follow up, (blank), $5,200, board meets monthly
  4. Northfork Auto Body, Won, 2030-03-30, schedule job, 2030-04-10, $1,800
  5. Sunny Paws Grooming, Negotiation, 2030-04-02, send revised price, 2030-04-03, $950, wants 10% off
  6. Harlow Street Gym, Lost, 2030-02-20, (blank), (blank), $3,000
  7. Bluebird Preschool, Quote sent, 2030-04-04, check in, 2030-04-11, (blank)
  8. Elm Court Apartments, New inquiry, 2030-03-28, call back, 2030-03-29, $4,100, left voicemail twice

What the AI gave us

OVERDUE

CompanyStageSince contactOverdueNext stepNote
Ridgeview HOAQuote sent27 days (from Mar 12)no date setfollow upBoard meets monthly; ask when the next meeting is
Elm Court ApartmentsNew inquiry11 days (from Mar 28)10 days (due Mar 29)call backTwo voicemails; try email or another time of day
Pinecrest DentalQuote sent14 days (from Mar 25)7 days (due Apr 1)call about quoteAsked about a payment plan
Sunny Paws GroomingNegotiation6 days (from Apr 2)5 days (due Apr 3)send revised priceWants 10% off; your call

COMING UP: Maple & Main Cafe (Apr 9), Bluebird Preschool (Apr 11).
SKIPPED: Northfork Auto Body (Won; schedule the job by Apr 10), Harlow Street Gym (Lost).
DATA GAPS: Ridgeview HOA, next step date MISSING. Bluebird Preschool, value MISSING.

Every day count checked out by hand, and the won job was still noted. A person still had to decide whether to give the 10% discount and whether to try Elm Court a third time.

Check before you send

  • Spot-check three day counts against a calendar.
  • Each overdue row is still open in your CRM today.
  • Nobody on the list asked not to be contacted.
  • Any discount or terms you offer are your choice, not the AI's.
  • Data gaps are fixed in your CRM, not only in the chat.

Don't paste

  • Email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses.
  • Card, bank or payment details.
  • Personal notes about health, family or money problems.
  • Extra columns the task doesn't need.

When not to use this

  • Lists over about 100 rows. Long pastes can skip rows; split them or use your CRM's filters.
  • Messy dates (mixed formats, typed notes). Clean them first or the counts will be wrong.
  • Sending follow-ups without checking their main purpose. A follow-up that mainly sells, even the service they first asked about, can count as marketing email under CAN-SPAM (opt-out, postal address). HourSaved's standard: send marketing only to people who agreed to it. See the win-back guide.

Questions owners ask

Can ChatGPT read my HubSpot or CRM directly?

Some tools offer connections, but a pasted export lets you control what goes in and fits any CRM.

What follow-up rule should I use?

Start with 7 days for new leads and quotes, and adjust after a month. The rule is yours; the AI only applies it.

Sources

Related guides

Inbox and emailWrite a polite follow-up email when someone hasn't repliedCustomers and salesTurn a phone or walk-in inquiry into a written quote draftReporting and planningWrite a weekly owner report: what came in, what's stuck, what's next

All 7 customers and sales guidesAll 45 guides

The newsletter

One new guide a week, free.

Start with the free starter: three short emails over your first week. First the 15-minute Start here guide, then the three jobs we'd hand to AI first, then one question about what eats your week. The first two come with a practice task and the check you do before anything goes out. After that, one new guide every Tuesday: one task, the prompt to paste and the check to do. At most one ad, always labeled.

  1. Day 1Your first 15 minutes with a free AI assistant
  2. Day 3Summarize a long email thread into decisions, open questions and next steps
    Draft routine email replies in your own voice, without promises you didn't approve
    Write payment reminder emails in three tones (friendly, firm, final)
  3. Day 6What eats your week? Reply in one line, plus how the weekly guide works