sales-pipeline-followup

name

sales-pipeline-followup

description

Turn the user's live pipeline - a CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Close...), a spreadsheet, or an export - into today's ranked action list: stale deals, missing next steps, follow-ups due, plus draft follow-up messages for the user to send. Connects READ-ONLY; never writes to the CRM, never sends a message, never invents contact history. Every item cites the deal. Improves from feedback.

Sales Pipeline Follow-up

TEMPLATE - NOT YET BOOTSTRAPPED. This skill ships as a workshop template. While this banner exists, do not generate an action list. Run the Setup section below instead: find out where the pipeline lives, connect to it read-only, then edit this file so the skill belongs to the user. Setup is finished when this banner and the Setup section have been deleted.

Turn a pipeline the user only opens when they feel guilty into a short action list they can work in 15 minutes:

1. Read the pipeline (read-only) every run.
2. Find stale deals, missing next steps, and follow-ups that are due.
3. Rank by the user's rules - not by amount alone.
4. Draft the follow-up messages. The user sends them. The skill never sends or writes.

Setup (agent: run once, then delete this section)

Work through this as a task list - use your todo/task tool so the user can watch progress and nothing gets skipped. Interview the user: actually ask each question and wait for the answer. Do not fill in defaults, do not guess their rules, and do not invent a pipeline to move faster - a setup built on made-up data is worse than no setup. One question at a time; rough answers are fine.

1. Confirm read-only access to the pipeline. This skill only ever reads.

• If the user already connected their pipeline read-only (guide Step 1), verify it: load the read-only key from its env var (or open the file/sheet), pull a small sample of deals, and show the user a couple so you both know it works.
• If it is not connected yet, ask where their pipeline lives - do not assume a CSV, it is usually a SaaS CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Close, Zoho, or a spreadsheet / export). Help the user create a read-only API token scoped to read deals + contacts only, store it in the Hermes secret store (profile .env as e.g. PIPELINE_API_KEY=..., or hermes secrets), and verify. Keep only the env var name here - never the key value, in this file or in chat.
• Only if the user says they have no pipeline handy and want to try the workshop with sample data: create a small sample CSV and note that it's a placeholder to be replaced. Never default to this.

2. Map the fields. From the sample, confirm which field is the deal/company, stage, amount, last-contact date, next step, and owner/contact. Note anything missing (e.g. no "last contact" field) - it changes what "stale" can mean.

3. Pipeline rules. What counts as stale (e.g. no contact in 7 days on an open deal); which stages are open/active; what is disqualified or must never be chased ("closed lost", "do not contact").

4. Priority and draft tone. What rises to the top (bigger deals, later stages, warm intros?), and a first cut of the voice for drafts (short, direct, no hype?). The drafts get tuned to the user's real writing later with /learn (guide Step 3) - a rough answer is fine now.

5. How often should this run? Daily, weekday mornings, before your first block.

Then edit this skill file (skill_manage edit, or edit directly):

• Replace My pipeline with the real source: type, how to reach it (env var name for the key, or the file/sheet path), and the field mapping from step 3.
• Fold the user's answers into Pipeline rules, Priority, and Draft tone.
• Rewrite the frontmatter description so it names the user's real pipeline and CRM.
• Leave the run workflow, action-list format, output, feedback, and safety sections alone unless the user asked for something specific.
• Delete this Setup section and the template banner at the top.

Finish with two steps:

1. Offer one short message the user can send right now to generate their first action list.
2. Check whether a Hermes gateway is configured (Telegram, Discord, email). If one is, set up a Hermes cron on the cadence the user chose, delivering the action list through that gateway. If not, tell them they can connect a gateway later and schedule it then.

My pipeline

• Source: HubSpot CRM, connected read-only.
• Access: REST API with the read-only token in env var PIPELINE_API_KEY (deals + contacts read scope only). No write scopes.
• Fields: dealname = deal, dealstage = stage, amount = amount, notes_last_contacted = last contact, next_step = next step, hubspot_owner_id = owner.
• Open stages: Qualified, Demo, Proposal, Negotiation. (Won / Lost are closed.)

Pipeline rules

• Stale = no contact in 7 days on an open deal.
• Active stages: Qualified, Demo, Proposal, Negotiation.
• Never chase: Closed Lost, Closed Won, anything tagged "do not contact" or disqualified.
• A deal with no next step set is always worth surfacing, stale or not.

Priority

Rank the action list by, in order: later stage (Proposal/Negotiation first), then larger amount, then how overdue the follow-up is. Warm intros and replied-to threads jump the queue.

Draft tone

Short, direct, human. No hype, no "just checking in", no fake urgency. One clear ask per message. Sign off as the user.

To make drafts actually sound like the user, teach Hermes their voice with /learn on a handful of follow-ups they've really sent (see the guide's "Make the drafts sound like you" step), then capture the concrete patterns here - greeting, sign-off, sentence length, words they never use.

Run workflow

Track this as a task list (todo/task tool) so the user sees progress and nothing is skipped:

1. Get today's date with a tool.
2. Connect to My pipeline read-only - load the API key from its env var, or open the file/sheet. Never use a write endpoint; never send anything.
3. Pull the open/active deals (per Pipeline rules). Read-only.
4. For each deal, compute: is it stale? Is a next step missing? Is a follow-up due? Drop anything in a never-chase stage.
5. Rank per Priority.
6. For deals that need a nudge, write a draft follow-up message in the Draft tone, grounded only in what the data actually says (last contact, stage, notes). Never invent a date, amount, promise, or prior conversation.
7. Write the action list in the format below. Every item cites the deal (name / id / row).
8. Deliver per Output. Do not send the drafts and do not write to the CRM.

Action list format

Example shape - the user's real deals replace the placeholders:

# Pipeline Action List - YYYY-MM-DD

## Do today (ranked)
1. **Acme Corp — $24k — Proposal** · no contact in 12 days; proposal sent, no reply. · deal #4
   Suggested next step: nudge for a decision timeline.
   > Draft: Hi Sam — following up on the proposal from the 3rd. Are you still targeting a Q3
   > start? Happy to hop on a quick call this week to work through open questions. — {you}

## Missing a next step
- **Globex — $8k — Demo** · no next step set. · deal #11 — Suggested: book the follow-up demo.

## Looks healthy
- One line when the pipeline is in good shape / nothing is urgent. Don't manufacture work.

Aim for the handful that actually matter today - short enough to work in 15 minutes. An honest "nothing urgent, pipeline looks healthy" is a valid action list.

Output

• Default: Markdown in chat. When a gateway is connected (Telegram, Discord, Slack, email), "chat" means that gateway. Drafts are text for the user to copy and send - the skill never sends them. Only write files if the user asked.

Feedback loop

After each action list, ask:

• Which items were worth acting on? Which were noise?
• Did the ranking match how you'd actually work the day?
• Are the drafts in your voice, or do they need editing?

Then edit this skill with the answers: source/fields → My pipeline; what's stale or never-chased → Pipeline rules; ordering → Priority; message voice → Draft tone; layout → Action list format. Feedback in, skill edits out, next list sharper.

Safety

• Read-only, always. The only credential this skill holds is read-only. Never call a write/update/delete endpoint, never send an email or message, never update the CRM.
• Never invent. No dates, amounts, contacts, or conversations that aren't in the data. Cite the deal for every item.
• The user sends. Drafts are suggestions. A human reviews and sends every message.
• Keep the API key in the secret store / env, never in this file, in chat, or in the output.

Later

If no gateway was connected at Setup, schedule the list with Hermes cron once one is; deliver it over Telegram / Discord / Slack / email. A supervised write-back (log the follow-up you sent, draft a CRM note for human approval) is a later upgrade - only after the daily list is something you trust, and only with a credential you deliberately grant for it.