Automate Email Parsing and Contact Management with n8n & HubSpot

1. Opening Problem Statement

Thomas, a busy sales manager at Pollup Data Services, spends hours every week manually sorting through incoming emails to capture important contact details from prospects. He enters this data into HubSpot, but mistakes happen and contacts sometimes get duplicated or missed. This slows Thomas down, costing valuable time and reducing sales efficiency. How can Thomas automate this tedious and error-prone process?

This exact challenge is what the n8n workflow we’ll explore solves in a smart and elegant way.

2. What This Automation Does

When set up, this workflow automatically processes incoming emails, extracts detailed contact information using advanced AI, searches HubSpot for existing contacts, creates new contacts if not found, and logs email engagements associated with those contacts.

• Extracts structured contact data from raw email content including name, company, phone, address, and more.
• Searches HubSpot by email to avoid duplicate contacts.
• Creates new contacts with all relevant fields if the contact is missing.
• Logs email engagements directly in HubSpot tied to the appropriate contact.
• Utilizes AI-powered parsing via Langchain nodes to accurately interpret email content.
• Works seamlessly with IMAP email accounts for flexible email reception.

This automation saves Thomas 3-5 hours weekly, reduces data entry errors, and keeps his sales CRM neat and up-to-date.

3. Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n account (cloud or self-hosted) 🔌
• IMAP-enabled email account (e.g., Gmail, Outlook) 📧
• HubSpot CRM account with API access 🔑
• OpenAI API key for AI parsing 🔐
• Langchain n8n nodes installed

For self-hosting your n8n instance, you can explore options at Buldrr Hostinger.

4. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Connect your email account

In n8n, add the node When an email is received (type: emailReadImap). Navigate: Click the + icon → Search and add ‘Email Read IMAP’ node. Configure it by selecting your IMAP email credentials (e.g., Gmail via OAuth or username/password). Enable “Force Reconnect” to 3 for stability.

You should see incoming emails triggering the node in real time after setup.

Common mistake: Using incorrect IMAP server or port settings will prevent email retrieval.

Step 2: Parse the email with AI

Add OpenAI Chat Model node (type: lmChatOpenAi) to interface with OpenAI GPT-4 model. Connect its output to Parse the mail with AI (chainLlm). This node runs a custom prompt that extracts structured contact info from raw email text. It parses fields like first name, last name, company, phone, city, postal code, and more.

Under the ‘Parse the mail with AI’ node, you’ll enter a prompt like:

=Get all important info from this email like first name, last name, email, phone number, name of the company, country, Postal code, city, etc. Return it as a json.  The email content:  {{ $json.textHtml || $json.textPlain}} 
From: {{ $json.from }} 
Subject: {{ $json.subject }}
Date sent:  {{ $json.date }}

The AI decodes this and outputs a JSON with all contact details.

Common mistake: Not adding an output parser node (Set the output Json) can cause unstructured output.

Step 3: Search for the contact in HubSpot

Add the node Search for the contact via email (HubSpot node). Configure it to search HubSpot contacts using the extracted email from AI output (e.g., {{ $json.output.contact_info.email }}).

Successful searches return contact IDs if found.

Step 4: Check if contact exists (Conditional logic)

Add the contact exists? IF node. Condition: Check if $json.id (HubSpot contact ID) exists.

If yes, continue flow to update or create engagement; if no, create new contact.

Step 5: Create or update contact

If contact doesn’t exist, Creates contact node triggers. It fills fields like first name, last name, job title, company, phone, address, postal code using AI-extracted data.

If contact does exist, Edit Fields sets the contact ID for the engagement step.

Step 6: Log email engagement in HubSpot

Finally, the Creates an email engagement HubSpot node creates an engagement record linked to the contact. It copies entire email content, subject, sender, and recipient fields from the original email node.

You’ll verify in HubSpot that the email is logged under the correct contact timeline.

5. Customizations ✏️

• Improve AI parsing prompt: In the “Parse the mail with AI” node, refine the prompt for more detailed info like social links or job level.
• Change email provider: Replace the IMAP node with Gmail trigger node if using Gmail directly.
• Add fallback contact creation: In the IF node, add additional conditions to handle multiple emails or no email cases.
• Expand HubSpot fields: Modify the “Creates contact” node to include custom properties in HubSpot like lead source or tags.
• Notification: Add a Slack or Email node to notify sales reps when a new contact is created.

6. Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “No emails received in the ‘When an email is received’ node.”
Cause: Incorrect IMAP credentials or server settings.
Solution: Double-check your email credentials, server, port, SSL/TLS settings under the node configuration.

Problem: “AI node output is empty or malformed.”
Cause: Incorrect prompt syntax or missing output parser.
Solution: Validate your prompt, ensure the ‘Set the output Json’ node is connected and properly configured for JSON parsing.

Problem: “HubSpot search fails or returns no data.”
Cause: API permission issues or filter misconfiguration.
Solution: Verify OAuth credentials, check email filter syntax, and test HubSpot API connection.

7. Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Confirm IMAP node pulls recent emails successfully.
• Test OpenAI API with sample emails for parsing accuracy.
• Verify HubSpot contact search returns expected results.
• Test contact creation and engagement creation with test data.
• Backup n8n workflow and Node credentials before going live.

8. Deployment Guide

Activate the workflow by enabling it in n8n after connecting your accounts. Monitor execution via the n8n dashboard for any errors. Schedule the IMAP node to poll frequently or use webhook triggers if available for real-time.

Regularly check HubSpot to verify all emails and contacts are logged correctly. Adjust AI parsing prompt if you notice missing data patterns.

9. FAQs

• Can I use Gmail API instead of IMAP? Yes, replace the emailReadImap node with Gmail node for direct Gmail API integration.
• Does this consume OpenAI credits? Yes, each email parsed uses OpenAI API calls, monitor usage in your OpenAI dashboard.
• Is my contact data secure? Connections use OAuth2 and secure tokens; maintain good credential practices.
• Can I scale this workflow for large volumes? This workflow is designed for moderate volumes; for high scale, consider batching emails or more robust error handling.

10. Conclusion

By implementing this n8n workflow, Thomas has automated the tedious task of email parsing and contact management in HubSpot. This saves him about 4 hours weekly, reduces contact duplication errors, and keeps his CRM cleaner and more reliable.

You’ve now built a system that smartly uses AI and powerful API integrations to modernize email processing. As next steps, consider adding notifications to your sales team when new contacts arrive, or integrate with your calendar for meeting scheduling.

Keep experimenting with your n8n automations to unlock more time-saving workflows!