The problem
Many people ringing a marquee firm just want to know roughly what 100 guests for a sit-down meal will cost, and can't say what size they need. Answering 40 of those inquiries a month by phone or email, at about 15 minutes each, takes 10 hours, and many never book.
What the AI does
Tally is a form builder; its free plan includes conditional logic, calculations and the Zapier integration. Build a form asking for guest numbers, seated or standing, dance floor, bar and catering tent, and month. Use calculations to work out a marquee size from your own space-per-guest figures and a price range from your own price list. A two-step Zapier automation emails the enquirer a summary through Gmail: the size, the price range, what's included and that a site visit confirms the price. Serious enquirers then book a visit.
A worked example
A marquee hire firm in Somerset gets about 40 'how much for' inquiries a month. They put a Tally price guide on their website, with their own sizes and prices, and use a Zapier automation to email each result.
Before
About 15 minutes per price inquiry: 40 × 15 = 600 minutes, 10 hours a month
After
About 3 minutes per inquiry to read the result and follow up good leads: 120 minutes, 2 hours a month
What it's worth
About $266£200€238A$384C$376 a month saved, at no cost on the free plans. That's 8 hours (600 minus 120 minutes) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour. 40 inquiries a month is 40 Zapier tasks, inside the free plan's 100 a month with two-step Zaps.
How to set it up
- Write down your own rules: space per guest for seated, standing and dancing, and a price range for each marquee size and extra.
- Build the Tally form with guest numbers, layout, extras and month, and add calculations for size and price range.
- Connect Tally to Zapier and build a Zap that sends the enquirer a Gmail email with the result.
- Test it with ten real past inquiries and compare the answers with what you actually quoted.
- Put the form on your website, and say clearly that the price is a guide until a site visit.
What goes wrong
- A ballpark that's too low annoys people when the real quote arrives. Use ranges and round up.
- Slopes, access and ground conditions change the price. Say so in the email.
- Update the form when your prices change, or the guide will quote last year's rates.
- Enquirers' details are personal data. Use them to answer the inquiry; marketing needs a separate opt-in.