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Ditch Zapier: Automate Sales Follow-Ups with Python


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by 0x7b-shop

Fun Weird Things:

Sick of paying $19/month just to send a follow-up email after someone fills out a form? Here’s how I replaced an entire chunk of my CRM and automation stack using Python + a Gmail API + a Google Sheets trigger.

This article walks you through an end-to-end Python automation for solo founders and devs looking to cut SaaS costs and own their stack.

⚙ What You’ll Build

A Python script that:

  • Monitors a Google Sheet for new leads (like Typeform or Tally exports)
  • Sends a customized follow-up email via Gmail
  • Logs sent status + timestamps
  • Can be run via cron, PythonAnywhere, or a simple server

🧱 Prerequisites

  • Google Sheet with lead data
  • Gmail account with API access (OAuth or App Password)
  • smtplib, gspread, oauth2client installed
  • Basic knowledge of Python

🧪 Step 1: Connect to Google Sheets 

import gspread
from oauth2client.service_account import ServiceAccountCredentials

scope = ["https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds",
         "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive"]

creds = ServiceAccountCredentials.from_json_keyfile_name('creds.json', scope)
client = gspread.authorize(creds)

sheet = client.open("Leads").sheet1
data = sheet.get_all_records()

📤 Step 2: Send Email via Gmail 

import smtplib
from email.mime.text import MIMEText

def send_email(to_email, name):
    subject = f"Nice to meet you, {name}!"
    body = f"Hey {name}, just following up on your interest in our product..."

    msg = MIMEText(body)
    msg['Subject'] = subject
    msg['From'] = "you@example.com"
    msg['To'] = to_email

    with smtplib.SMTP_SSL("smtp.gmail.com", 465) as server:
        server.login("you@example.com", "your_app_password")
        server.send_message(msg)

🔄 Step 3: Full Automation Loop 

for i, row in enumerate(data):
    if row["Followed Up"] == "No":
        send_email(row["Email"], row["Name"])
        sheet.update_cell(i+2, 3, "Yes")  # Assuming column 3 is 'Followed Up'

🧪 Optional: Run Daily with PythonAnywhere

  • Free tier supports daily scheduled tasks
  • Paste your script and run via Task Scheduler
  • Try PythonAnywhere

💸 What You’re Replacing

  • No-code tools like Zapier, Make, or Pabbly
  • Lightweight CRM automations (e.g., Pipedrive drip emails)
  • Basic onboarding emails from HelpScout, Intercom

🧠 Takeaways for Indie Hackers

  • You don’t need a SaaS for everything — Python can cover 80% of basic automation needs
  • Own your stack, control your data, reduce costs
  • Great for MVPs, solopreneur systems, or one-off product launches

🔗 Bonus Resources

🔥 Want more no-SaaS Python automations?
Drop a comment with the tool you’d love to replace next (Calendly, Airtable, Notion?) and I’ll write the next one.

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This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by 0x7b-shop