GPT-6.1 Sol: Why Tallyroom trials don't convert

Scorecard

The analysis

Findings

1. Prioritise an assisted-setup experiment next quarter. Setup is the largest of the four proposed barriers after adjusting for the population's company-size mix, and it can be addressed without first building another integration.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   Setup was the main reason for 86/460 respondents (18.7%), rising to approximately 21.6% after size weighting, versus 16.3% for missing integrations and 16.6% for price. Applying the weighted setup share to 1,640 lapsed trials gives approximately 355 teams, not 355 recoverable customers. Among 1–9 employee respondents, 46/168 (27.4%) cited setup. The supplied open texts contain 24 setup-time mentions, including 14 from the labelled 1–9 employee segment.

2. There is substantial stated demand for Sage, but it supports targeted discovery and commercial validation rather than an immediate commitment to an unspecified 'Sage integration'.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   109/460 respondents (23.7%) selected Sage integration as needed before paying; the size-weighted estimate is 18.1%. Among Sage users, 100/117 (85.5%) selected it, and 68/117 (58.1%) identified missing integration as their main reason for not paying. The nominal 95% margin of error on the unweighted 23.7% is approximately ±3.9 percentage points. Open texts name Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage Business Cloud and Sage Accounting, so the demand spans products whose integration requirements must be verified.

3. Do not cut the standard trial from 30 to 14 days on this evidence. Forgetting is a minority explanation, while insufficient setup time is much more prominent; shortening could worsen that barrier.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   Only 1/460 respondents (0.2%) chose 'trial was too long'; 17/460 (3.7%) chose forgetting, compared with 86/460 (18.7%) choosing setup time and 7/460 (1.5%) choosing 'trial was too short'. The 24 setup-time texts describe interrupted work and unfinished configuration. These retrospective answers do not establish the causal effect of trial duration.

4. The finance director cannot use this survey to forecast how many teams will pay after integration. It identifies promising prospects, not a conversion rate.

   Low confidenceBase 93

   Among the 93 respondents citing missing integration as their main reason, 57 (61.3%) said they were fairly or very likely to pay £6 per user per month; only 24 (25.8%) were very likely. Across all 460 respondents, stated likelihood was 37.6%. The tables do not provide Sage-specific payment likelihood, joint requirements or actual purchasing behaviour. The 61.3% must not be multiplied by all lapsed trials or all Sage users as a revenue forecast.

5. Investigate pricing structure before introducing a blanket cheaper plan. The texts point particularly to paying for occasional users, rather than proving that a lower per-user price is the best remedy.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   73/460 respondents (15.9%) selected price as their main reason; 94/460 (20.4%) requested per-company pricing. There are 23 supplied texts explicitly discussing price or charging structure. The price-main-reason difference between 1–9 employee businesses (32/168, 19.0%) and 50–249 employee businesses (17/110, 15.5%) is not statistically significant using a conventional two-sided two-proportion test (p approximately 0.44). This does not prove equal sensitivity.

6. An integration or onboarding improvement will not resolve every blocker. Validate approval flexibility and mobile reliability alongside the conversion work.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   58/460 (12.6%) selected approval workflow as their main reason and 101/460 (22.0%) requested custom approval chains. The 15 approval-related texts include batch approval, external approvers, multiple directors and expense-dependent routing. Mobile problems were the main reason for 29/460 (6.3%); 10 texts describe scanning or upload failures, with three also mentioning setup time.

7. Sage has the stronger unweighted integration-demand signal than FreeAgent, but the survey does not establish which integration would deliver the better return.

   Medium confidenceBase 460

   Sage was requested by 109/460 (23.7%), versus FreeAgent by 33/460 (7.2%). Within their respective user groups, 100/117 Sage users (85.5%) and 24/33 FreeAgent users (72.7%) requested the relevant integration. Missing integration was the main reason for 68/117 Sage users (58.1%) and 11/33 FreeAgent users (33.3%). Build cost, software-version coverage, addressable trial volumes and realised conversion are unknown.

8. Treat the size-weighted prioritisation as provisional until the respondent records are audited. The supplied data contain material inconsistencies that could change segment estimates.

   High confidenceBase 460

   The respondent size mix is 36.5%/39.6%/23.9%, versus 55%/35%/10% in the lapsed-trial population. Several text labels conflict with stated headcount: T010 is labelled 50–249 but says nine people; T023 is labelled 1–9 but says 15 employees; T164 is labelled 50–249 but says four people; T449 is labelled 1–9 but says 18. Also, Q2 reports zero 'didn't need it' responses in the 50–249 group, while several texts labelled in that group explicitly express that reason.

Open-text themes it coded

Insufficient time to complete setup or setup taking too long 24Missing Sage integration 15Missing FreeAgent integration 3Other or unspecified missing accounting integration 4Price too high or per-user charging unsuitable 23Approval process does not fit existing working practices 15Receipt scanning, capture or mobile upload failures 10Selected another tool 8Insufficient need or expense volume to justify an expenses app 12

The survey it planned

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

1. S1

   Were you an administrator of your team's most recent Tallyroom trial, and were you involved in deciding whether to continue using it?

   One answer
   • Yes, I was an administrator and was involved in the decision
   • I was an administrator, but was not involved in the decision
   • I was involved in the decision, but was not an administrator
   • Neither
   • Don't know

   Continues if Yes, I was an administrator and was involved in the decision; I was an administrator, but was not involved in the decision

2. S2

   Is the business that took this Tallyroom trial based in the UK?

   One answer
   • Yes
   • No
   • Don't know

   Continues if Yes

3. S3

   Which statement describes your team's most recent Tallyroom trial?

   One answer
   • It ended within the last 90 days, and we have not started a paid Tallyroom subscription
   • It ended within the last 90 days, and we have started a paid Tallyroom subscription
   • It ended more than 90 days ago
   • It has not ended yet
   • Don't know

   Continues if It ended within the last 90 days, and we have not started a paid Tallyroom subscription

4. Q1

   Approximately how many people does your business employ in total, including you? Please count employees across the business, not just people who would use Tallyroom.

   One answer
   • 1–9
   • 10–49
   • 50–249
   • 250 or more
   • Don't know
5. Q2

   How far did your team get during its most recent Tallyroom trial? Select the furthest stage reached.

   One answer
   • We did not start setting it up
   • We started setting it up, but did not submit an expense
   • We submitted an expense, but did not approve one
   • We approved an expense, but did not send one to our accounting software
   • We sent an approved expense to our accounting software
   • Don't know
6. Q3

   Which, if any, of the following contributed to your team not starting a paid Tallyroom subscription after the trial? Select all that apply. Select 'None of these' or 'Don't know' only on its own.

   Any that apply
   • We did not have enough need for an expenses app
   • Our existing process or another product suited us better
   • Tallyroom did not connect to the accounting software we needed
   • Other features or capabilities we needed were missing
   • Setting up or connecting Tallyroom was difficult
   • Getting staff or managers to use it was difficult
   • The £6 per user per month price was too high
   • We could not get budget or approval to buy it
   • We had concerns about reliability, security or data handling
   • We were too busy to evaluate it
   • We needed more time to evaluate it
   • We lost track of the trial or forgot to return to it
   • Another reason
   • None of these
   • Don't know
7. Q4

   Which was the single most important reason your team did not start a paid Tallyroom subscription? If you selected reasons on the previous page, choose the most important of those.

   One answer
   • We did not have enough need for an expenses app
   • Our existing process or another product suited us better
   • Tallyroom did not connect to the accounting software we needed
   • Other features or capabilities we needed were missing
   • Setting up or connecting Tallyroom was difficult
   • Getting staff or managers to use it was difficult
   • The £6 per user per month price was too high
   • We could not get budget or approval to buy it
   • We had concerns about reliability, security or data handling
   • We were too busy to evaluate it
   • We needed more time to evaluate it
   • We lost track of the trial or forgot to return to it
   • Another reason
   • None of these
   • Don't know
8. Q5

   Which accounting software would Tallyroom need to send approved expenses to for your business? Select all that apply. Select 'We would not need an accounting connection' or 'Don't know' only on its own.

   Any that apply
   • Xero
   • QuickBooks
   • Sage
   • FreeAgent
   • Zoho Books
   • Microsoft Dynamics
   • Other accounting software
   • We would not need an accounting connection
   • Don't know
9. Q6

   Was there a particular missing accounting connection or feature that your team needed before it could pay for Tallyroom? If so, briefly name it and explain what you needed to do. If you selected 'Other accounting software', please name it here. You can write 'None' or 'Don't know'.

   Open text
10. Q7

    Thinking about the 30-day trial, how did the time available compare with the time your team needed to decide whether to pay?

    One answer
    • Much less time than we needed
    • A little less time than we needed
    • About the right amount of time
    • A little more time than we needed
    • Much more time than we needed
    • We did not evaluate Tallyroom
    • Don't know
11. Q8

    If your team had been offered a 14-day trial instead of a 30-day trial, with the same product and £6 per user per month price, how would that have affected its chance of starting a paid subscription?

    One answer
    • Much less likely to pay
    • A little less likely to pay
    • No difference
    • A little more likely to pay
    • Much more likely to pay
    • Don't know
12. Q9

    Which statement best describes your team's experience of setting up Tallyroom during the trial?

    One answer
    • We did not attempt setup
    • We completed setup without needing help
    • We needed help and received enough to complete setup
    • We needed help, but did not receive enough to complete setup
    • We needed help, but did not ask for it
    • We were unable to complete setup for a reason that help would not have resolved
    • Don't know
13. Q10

    Looking back, which ONE change, if any, would have made the biggest difference to your team's decision about paying for Tallyroom? This is a research question, not an offer.

    One answer
    • A connection to the accounting software we needed
    • Hands-on help from Tallyroom to set up our account and accounting connection
    • A lower-priced plan, depending on its price and what it included
    • A 14-day trial instead of a 30-day trial
    • More than 30 days to try it
    • Another product feature or improvement
    • Another change
    • None of these would have changed our decision
    • Don't know