Case Study: Traleado: From a Complex SaaS Tool Into a Focused Pay-Per-Lead Platform with Clear Product-Market Fit

Client Overview

Traleado is a SaaS platform that helps organizations manage work and leads outsourced to third-party partners. Today, they position themselves as "your very own pay-per-lead platform" for lead sellers, brokers, and partner networks.

But that clarity didn't exist when founder Taylor reached out.

The Situation

Zero paying customers. Twenty demos. No path forward.

Despite building a sophisticated platform with powerful features—smart partner matching, multi-quote collection, customizable workflows—Traleado couldn't convert prospects into customers.

The Product Challenge:

• Three different workspace types trying to serve everyone (Leads, Client Requests, Direct Requests)
• Feature-rich but unfocused, attempting to solve problems across field services, recruitment, and manufacturing
• Demos across 20+ companies in different industries yielded interest but no commitments
• One prospect came close to adoption, then stalled

The Positioning Problem:

The most common objection from prospects said it all:

"Couldn't I just do this in Trello or Asana?"

The website messaging tried to cover every possible use case simultaneously. The Kanban-style interface reinforced the wrong mental model. Prospects couldn't see what made Traleado unique or where it fit in their existing workflow.

The Strategic Trap:

Without a clear ICP, every demo spawned requests for custom features:

• Field service companies wanted mobile-first scheduling
• Recruiters wanted applicant tracking built in
• Manufacturers wanted complex multi-stage routing

The team was heading toward the custom-feature trap: building one-offs for everyone, perfect for no one, with no viable path to product-market fit.

Our Approach

We structured the engagement around three interconnected initiatives, all designed to answer one question: What should Traleado be the best in the world at?

Part 1: Strategic ICP & Discovery Framework

The Core Strategic Work

We started by forcing clarity on the fundamentals:

• What is the core problem Traleado solves better than alternatives?
• Who feels this problem urgently enough to change their tools?
• Which customer type could realistically generate the first 20 paying organizations?

Uncovering the Origin Story

Working through Taylor's documentation, we rediscovered why Traleado was built in the first place:

The co-founder's manufacturing business generated consumer leads for gutter guard installation. Both the sale and the installation were outsourced to a network of installers. The internal team struggled with:

• Routing leads to the right partners based on location, capacity, and performance
• Tracking whether partners actually followed up and converted leads
• Maintaining brand experience across a distributed partner network
• Monetizing leads instead of giving them away for free

This wasn't a generic "work management" problem. This was a partner lead distribution and monetization problem.

The Strategic Pivot

We helped Taylor see that the "Leads" workspace—where both sales and service are outsourced to partners—had the clearest, most predictable workflow:

• Leads move through standard stages
• Organizations care about conversion rates, partner performance, coverage gaps, and monetization
• The problem is urgent and painful for companies in this position

In contrast, the service-only workspaces had massive variability and demanded different product capabilities (mobile UX, scheduling, on-site checklists).

Defining the ICP

We worked with Taylor to identify manufacturers and distributors whose products require professional installation or service:

• Solar systems
• Home security
• Home improvement (windows, doors, roofing)
• Water treatment systems
• HVAC systems
• Office equipment

From there, we pushed for ruthless prioritization:

1. Shortlist 2 industries to focus on for the next 6 months (Solar and Home Security)
2. Create a named list of 20+ realistic target companies in Australia
3. Document the specific pain points, alternatives, and urgency scenarios for these customers

Strategic Output: A concrete ICP document that replaced "we can help many industries" with "here are the first 20 companies we should close in the next 6 months, and here's exactly why they need us."

Part 2: Messaging & Website Overhaul

With strategic clarity established, we rebuilt how Traleado presented itself to the market.

The Messaging Problem

The old website suffered from three fatal flaws:

1. Tried to explain everything at once – all three workspace types, all possible use cases
2. Generic positioning – language that could apply to any work management tool
3. Wrong visual metaphor – Kanban boards reinforced "this is Trello for contractors"

The Messaging Solution

We designed a new messaging platform built around a single, powerful concept:

"Your very own pay-per-lead marketplace"

This reframing accomplished multiple goals:

• Immediately differentiated from internal PM tools (Trello, Asana, Monday)
• Positioned against field-service tools (ServiceM8, Jobber) that optimize internal teams
• Highlighted the unique value: lead monetization and partner network management
• Created a clear mental model for prospects

New Value Proposition Structure

Who it's for:

• Lead sellers and brokers who distribute leads to buyer networks
• Agencies managing partner networks
• Manufacturers/distributors with installer networks

What it does:

• Capture, route, and monetize leads across partner networks
• Smart partner matching based on performance, capacity, location, and qualifications
• Track lead outcomes and partner accountability
• Manage credit balances and lead purchasing

Why it matters:

• Generate revenue from leads instead of giving them away
• Ensure consistent customer experience across partner networks
• Identify coverage gaps and performance issues
• Automate lead distribution and reduce manual overhead

Website Restructure

We simplified the website to:

• Lead with the lead marketplace concept – not generic work management
• Clearly explain differentiation from alternatives prospects already know
• Focus messaging on the Leads use case first, before introducing service-only options
• Use language from the target vertical – terms like "lead buyers," "credit balances," "partner networks," "pay-per-lead"

The transformation is visible in Traleado's live site today: clear positioning around pay-per-lead marketplaces with no confusion about what category they're in.

Part 3: Sales Discovery Engine

The final pillar replaced guesswork and scattered demos with systematic market learning.

Building the Discovery Infrastructure

We helped Taylor:

1. Hire a dedicated salesperson based in Australia with a focus on structured discovery (not quota attainment)
2. Design the outreach strategy:
   • Start with the named list of target companies from the ICP work
   • Prioritize solar and home security verticals
   • Use a peer-to-peer positioning approach
3. Create conversation frameworks focused on understanding current pain:
   • "How do you currently manage leads you pass to partners?"
   • "Are you monetizing those leads or giving them away for free?"
   • "How do you track whether partners follow up, convert, and treat customers well?"
   • "What tools or processes are you using today? Where do they break down?"

The Clever Positioning Move

Rather than leading with "I'm calling to show you software," the salesperson positioned himself as a peer operator:

"We're also dealing with the complexity of sending leads to a partner network and tracking what happens. We're exploring how other companies handle this—are you facing similar challenges?"

This approach:

• Disarmed skepticism and sales resistance
• Produced honest, detailed feedback about real problems
• Opened conversations about workflows, pain points, and existing tools
• Generated trust that led to follow-up conversations and demos

Discovery Insights After 3-4 Months

The systematic discovery process uncovered clear patterns:

Strong demand signals:

• Lead monetization and performance-based partner allocation
• Visibility into lead status and outcomes across partner networks
• Better handling of lead buying/selling relationships
• Automated distribution with rules and pricing controls

The Critical Insight:

Agencies, lead sellers, and B2B companies didn't just want software to manage leads sent to partners.

They wanted to run their own pay-per-lead marketplace with:

• Their own network of lead buyers
• Control over pricing and distribution rules
• Automated lead routing and performance reporting
• Credit balance management for buyers

This validated the strategic direction: Traleado should evolve from "general partner work manager" to "infrastructure for running pay-per-lead marketplaces and partner lead programs."

The Outcomes

The transformation is evident across every dimension of Traleado's business:

1. Strategic Clarity & Focus

Before: "We can help any company that outsources work to partners"

After: "We help lead sellers, brokers, and partner-driven organizations create their own pay-per-lead marketplace to connect, sell, and manage leads with buyers"

This clarity enabled ruthless prioritization:

• Focus on 2 verticals instead of 10
• Target 20 named companies instead of broad demographic segments
• Build features that matter for lead monetization instead of one-off customizations

2. Messaging Transformation

Before: Website looked like another Kanban/project management tool with generic "manage your work" language

After: Clear positioning around pay-per-lead marketplaces, lead buyers/sellers, partner networks, and monetization

The "Trello/Asana objection" disappeared from demos. Prospects immediately understood the category and unique value.

3. Sales & Discovery Infrastructure

Before: Scattered demos across industries with no systematic learning process

After:

• Repeatable discovery process with documented talk tracks
• ICP hypothesis for the first 20-50 customers
• Structured feedback loops turning conversations into product insights
• Foundation for a scalable sales motion

4. Product Strategy & Roadmap

Before: Feature requests pointing in every direction, no clear product philosophy

After: Focused roadmap prioritizing:

• Lead monetization via credit balances
• Smart matching and routing for partner networks
• Performance reporting and partner accountability
• Marketplace infrastructure for lead buying/selling

The team could confidently say "no" to feature requests outside this core.

5. Foundation for Product-Market Fit

The current Traleado product and positioning visible on their live site today is a direct result of this strategic work.

They now have:

• A defined ICP with characteristics, pain points, and named target accounts
• Clear differentiation from alternatives prospects already know
• Validated demand through systematic discovery conversations
• Product roadmap alignment with what target customers actually need
• Messaging that resonates and eliminates confusion about category

Key Takeaway

The difference between interesting technology and a fundable business is strategic focus.

Traleado had built powerful, sophisticated technology. But without a clear answer to "who is this for and why do they urgently need it?" they were stuck in demo-land with zero revenue.

The engagement didn't just tweak messaging or add sales tactics. We helped them:

1. Discover their actual competitive advantage (not what they thought it was)
2. Identify the customers who feel that advantage most acutely
3. Build the infrastructure to learn from the market systematically
4. Translate those insights into clear positioning and product decisions

This is the foundation required before scaling. Without it, more marketing spend just means burning money faster on the wrong message to the wrong people.

With it, every dollar and hour compounds toward product-market fit.

The Methodology

This engagement demonstrates our three-pillar approach to B2B positioning and go-to-market strategy:

1. Strategic Clarity (ICP & Problem Definition)

• Force specificity on who, what, why, and urgency
• Separate what's theoretically possible from what's strategically optimal
• Create artifacts (ICP docs, target lists) that drive execution

2. Message Architecture (Positioning & Communication)

• Translate strategy into clear, differentiated positioning
• Rebuild website and messaging to eliminate confusion
• Create mental models that help prospects self-identify

3. Market Validation (Structured Discovery)

• Build repeatable processes to learn from target customers
• Design conversations that produce honest feedback, not polite interest
• Use insights to validate or pivot strategy and product direction

Does your B2B SaaS have powerful technology but unclear positioning? Are you getting interest but no conversions? Let's talk about how we can bring strategic clarity and execution to accelerate your path to product-market fit.

[Contact Big Moves Marketing]

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