Mercury 3: Why Tallyroom trials don't convert

Scorecard

The analysis

Findings

1. Sage integration is the strongest product-led opportunity: it is the most frequently selected missing feature overall and dominates among Sage users.

   High confidenceBase 460

   Q3: 23.7% (109/460) of lapsed trials said they would need a Sage integration before paying; among the 117 Sage users, 85.5% selected it. Q2: 58.1% of Sage users cited no accounting-software integration as the main reason for not paying. Weighted to the lapsed-trial company-size mix, 18.1% (~297/1,640) would need Sage integration.

2. Integration has a credible conversion payoff, but it will not convert everyone: the integration-blocked group is fairly likely to pay if the connection exists.

   Medium confidenceBase 93

   Among the 93 respondents whose main reason was no integration, 61.3% said they would be fairly or very likely to pay if the Sage integration existed.

The survey it planned

3 screening questions and 10 questions, as the model wrote them.

1. S1

   Are you the person responsible for managing your company's Tallyroom account or trial?

   One answer
   • Yes
   • No

   Continues if Yes

2. S2

   How many employees does your company have in the UK?

   One answer
   • 1-9
   • 10-49
   • 50-249
   • 250 or more

   Continues if 1-9; 10-49; 50-249

3. S3

   Did your company's Tallyroom free trial end within the last 90 days without moving to a paid plan?

   One answer
   • Yes
   • No

   Continues if Yes

4. Q1

   Which accounting software does your company currently use?

   One answer
   • Xero
   • QuickBooks
   • Sage
   • Other (please specify)
   • We don't use accounting software
5. Q2

   What was the main reason your team did not continue with Tallyroom after the free trial?

   One answer
   • It cost more than we expected or wanted to pay
   • It did not integrate with our accounting software
   • Setting it up took too long or was too complicated
   • Our team did not use the app enough
   • Managers found approving expenses too time-consuming
   • Key features were missing
   • We chose a different expenses product
   • Expenses were not a priority right now
   • The trial length did not suit us
   • Other (please specify)
6. Q3

   Which of the following missing features or integrations, if any, contributed to your decision not to subscribe? Select all that apply.

   Any that apply
   • Integration with Sage
   • Integration with another accounting package
   • Automatic receipt reading/OCR
   • Multi-currency expenses
   • Department or project codes
   • Expense report generation
   • Payroll or finance export
   • A better mobile app
   • More flexible approval rules
   • Better reports/analytics
   • None - missing features/integrations were not an issue
   • Other (please specify)
7. Q4

   How easy or difficult was it to set up Tallyroom?

   Scale

   Scale 1-5: Very difficult to Very easy

   Judges: assumptive

   Assumes respondents experienced setup sufficiently to rate it. Eligible admins may never have attempted setup, and no not-applicable response is available.

   It assumes the respondent actually attempted to set up Tallyroom, which may not be true for all lapsed trials.

8. Q5

   During the 30-day trial, how often did people in your team use Tallyroom?

   One answer
   • Daily
   • Several times a week
   • About once a week
   • Once or twice in total
   • Never/almost never
9. Q6

   Which statement best describes your view of the 30-day trial length?

   One answer
   • It was too long; our team lost interest before the end
   • It was about right
   • It was too short; we needed more time to evaluate it
   • The length did not matter; we just did not use it enough
   Judges: double-barrelled

   Options bundle trial-length judgments with explanations, particularly 'too long' with losing interest. Respondents cannot endorse the length judgment independently of that explanation. The wording embeds the stakeholder's proposed mechanism, while the length-did-not-matter option is restricted to insufficient use.

   Each option ties a view of the trial length to a cause. 'Too long' comes bundled with 'our team lost interest', 'too short' with 'we needed more time to evaluate', and 'did not matter' with 'we just did not use it enough'. Someone who agrees with only one half of an option cannot answer accurately.

10. Q7

    How does the price of £6 per user per month compare with what you expected to pay for an expenses app?

    One answer
    • Much lower than expected
    • Somewhat lower than expected
    • About what I expected
    • Somewhat higher than expected
    • Much higher than expected
    Judges: assumptive

    Assumes respondents had an expected price for an expenses app; those without a prior expectation cannot give a valid answer using the available options.

    Assumes the respondent had a prior expectation of what they would pay for an expenses app.

11. Q8

    If Tallyroom had offered free assisted setup (with a Tallyroom specialist configuring your account), would your team have been more likely to subscribe?

    One answer
    • Yes, definitely
    • Probably yes
    • No more or less likely
    • Probably not
    • Definitely not
12. Q9

    Would a cheaper plan (for example, a lower price with fewer features) have made your team more likely to subscribe?

    One answer
    • Yes, definitely
    • Probably yes
    • No more or less likely
    • Probably not
    • Definitely not
13. Q10

    What is the one change that would have made your team most likely to pay for Tallyroom?

    Open text