Free lead capture: a Tally form, a Google Sheet and a Telegram alert (no plugins, no CRM)

Published 2026-09-28 · YouTube · Telegram

Capture website leads with a free Tally form, log every one in Google Sheets and get a Telegram alert in seconds — three free Make blueprints, the exact fields, the hidden source trick and what breaks when you reorder a form.

The lead alert is the first automation every consultant sets up, and the first question every client asks is "does it work with my form?". Often it does not: the site has a contact form that emails somebody and can do nothing else. Replacing it is a project. Embedding a free Tally form on the same page is ten minutes, and it can post to a webhook out of the box.

This guide is the fully free version of the chain: Tally for the form, Google Sheets for the log, Telegram for the alert, and Make (free plan) in the middle. Then two more automations that use the same form tool for the next problems a client has: bookings that never reach a sheet, and feedback nobody acts on.

What Tally gives you that a site form usually does not

• A webhook: every submission is sent to a URL you choose (Integrations → Webhooks). That URL is the Make scenario.
• Hidden fields: a "source" field filled from the page link (?source=facebook), so the sheet knows where each lead came from without asking.
• No limits on forms or responses on the free plan, and the form embeds on any page or works as its own link.

It is the form we build the blueprints with, and it is free: Create a free form →affiliate linkAffiliate link. If you ever upgrade to a paid plan through it we earn a commission from Tally; your price is the same, and the free plan covers every automation here.

The free lead alert

How Tally sends the data, and the one thing to get right

Tally posts the submission as a list of fields in the order they appear in the form. The blueprint maps by position: name, phone, email, source. Keep the form in that order, and if you ever move a field, open the Google Sheets module in Make and check the mapping before the next lead arrives — otherwise a phone number lands in the email column and nobody notices for a week.

1. Create the Tally form with four fields: Name, Phone, Email, and a hidden field named "source".
2. Import the blueprint into Make; the webhook module shows an address. Copy it.
3. In Tally: Integrations → Webhooks → paste the address. Submit a test.
4. Back in Make, "Run once" catches the test; connect Google Sheets and Telegram; switch on.

Bookings that actually reach the sheet

The no-show reminder only works when the meeting is in the sheet. A booking form the client fills in is how the sheet stays complete without anyone typing — and the confirmation email is the client's first proof that the process is organised.

One question at the end of every project

A 6 or lower reaches your phone with the comment the same minute; that is the window in which a bad experience can still be fixed. A 9 or 10 is marked for a review request a week later, when the good feeling is still there and the pressure is gone. A 7 or 8 gets nothing, on purpose.

What does not work

• Tally's free plan shows a small "Made with Tally" at the bottom of the form. Clients who mind can upgrade; the automation is the same.
• A booking form does not check availability. For a calendar with real slots, use a scheduling tool and keep this chain for the log and the reminders.
• A webhook does not verify who is calling it. Tally signs its requests; if spam becomes a problem, add the signing secret check in Make.