Can Tally do lead scoring? The calculator workaround

Many inquiry forms are built in Tally. Once inquiries arrive, people want a number on each one that says which to answer first. In Tally, the usual way to get that is a calculated field that adds up points. Here is how it works, and where it stops working.

How does the calculator workaround work?#

Every answer is worth some points, and the form keeps a running total.

1. Add a calculated field named "score." Visitors never see it on your published form.
2. Add a rule to each question. If the visitor picks a certain answer, add a set number of points to "score."
3. Use the total at the end. For example, show anyone at 70 or more a Thank You page that points them to your booking link. Show everyone else a different thank-you page.
4. Check where the total ends up. Before you rely on it, confirm on Tally's own help pages that the total is saved with each response and sent to wherever you keep inquiries, such as a spreadsheet.

You choose every point value yourself, by hand.

What does a scored Tally form look like?#

Here is an example for a small design studio. The questions and points are made up to show the method.

The highest possible total is 100. The cut-off is 70.

• A visitor with a budget over $10,000 who wants a website this month scores 40 + 30 + 30 = 100. They go to the booking link.
• A visitor with a $2,500 to $10,000 budget, a start in two months, and a small job scores 25 + 20 + 10 = 55. They see the thank-you page.

What does the calculator handle well?#

It works best when every answer is one of a few fixed choices. A button for each budget range gives the calculator something exact to match. The same picks always give the same total, so two people reading the same inquiry see the same number.

It works well on a short form. Three questions with three answers each is nine numbers to set. You can check them all on one screen, and you can redo any total yourself.

It suits a business whose rules rarely change. If your smallest job has been $2,500 for two years, you set the points once and leave them.

It keeps everything in one tool. If you already build forms in Tally, there is nothing new to learn. For a form like the example above, the workaround is a fair answer.

Where does the calculator break?#

It breaks when people answer in ways the table did not plan for.

Typed answers cannot be added up#

A calculator matches choices. If budget is a text box, "around ten grand, maybe a bit more" matches nothing, so it adds nothing. Many people answer a budget question in words or as a range. The guide on scoring an inquiry from free text explains why this is hard.

A skipped question looks like a low answer#

Take two visitors who both want a website this month:

• One skips the budget question. Score: 0 + 30 + 30 = 60.
• One picks "Under $2,500." Score: 0 + 30 + 30 = 60.

The first said nothing about money. The second said the budget is small. The calculator gives them the same number.

You can make every question required. That has a cost too: some visitors close the form rather than name a budget. The post on whether a contact form should ask for budget weighs that choice.

Adding a question changes every cut-off#

Add a fourth question worth up to 20 points, and the highest total becomes 120. A cut-off of 70 now means something different. Each time the form changes, you work out the points and cut-offs again by hand. Inquiries scored before the change cannot be compared with inquiries scored after it.

A total arrives without its reasons#

The response shows the total. To see why an inquiry scored 55, you read its answers and redo the sum. At ten inquiries a week, that is fine. At fifty, it is the reading the score was meant to save.

A vague answer gets the same reply every time#

If someone picks "Not sure yet," the form moves on. You can add a question that shows only after that answer. It still asks the same words to everyone who picks it, whatever else they said.

When is the workaround enough?#

Keep it if all of these are true:

1. Every scored question has fixed choices.
2. There are five or fewer scored questions.
3. Your cut-offs rarely change.
4. You read every inquiry anyway, and the score only sets the order.

Then a points total in Tally does the job. Moving tools would add work without fixing a problem you have.

What does a scoring tool do differently?#

In Qualiform, the AI has the conversation, and code calculates the score from your own criteria. A question nobody answered is left out of the score instead of counted as 0, so skipping it never lowers a score. The Answered percent beside each score shows how much of your criteria that score rests on. A typed amount can be scored with the scoring option "An amount, compared with your smallest job." Each lead carries a line saying how its score was reached.

It is a different kind of form, and not every business needs one. If your questions are a few fixed choices, the calculator is enough.

How do you check your own Tally scores?#

Take last month's inquiries and sort them by score. Mark the ones that became customers. If a customer sits near the bottom, find the answer that cost them points. If it was a skipped question or a typed answer, the calculator caused the low score, not the visitor's fit.

Lead scoring means giving each inquiry a number for how well it fits the work you want, so the right ones are answered first. The guide to lead scoring for small businesses shows how to choose criteria that hold up.