As a marketer you always need to be asking yourself “What’s the problem my [product/service/company] is trying to solve for the customer?” This is the simplest, easiest way to figure out the best way to talk about what you do in terms of providing a solution for your customers. It’s easy to look at your product and say it solves whatever is the opposite of what it does. But that is company-centric thinking, not customer-centric. You need to solve a real problem from the customer perspective, not just a problem that that matches up perfectly with your product/service. Stop short of identifying that and you’ll be trying to identify where all of your sales are.

But not every product or service solves a problem you say? You point to the iPod and say that it was just a well designed gadget. You point to Starbucks and say that it was just an overpriced cup of coffee. I say you aren’t looking hard enough. The iPod serves a very real problem brought on by the digital music revolution. It elegantly solved the problem of purchasing and managing music from your computer to your MP3 player. Starbucks solved the problem of making people feel connected to one another and their community. They solved the problem of a communal meeting area where people were free to lounge, converse and share experiences over coffee.

Both were problems that aren’t easily visible. Both probably aren’t the first problem that come to mind. And that is the second challenge.

The problem Starbucks solved wasn’t that there wasn’t any good coffee out there. If they just went after that one they would’ve found themselves in a commodity industry, fighting with Dunkin’ Donuts over the cheapest mega-sized coffee they could offer. Instead, they solved something much more important and were rewarded because of it.

As a marketer you have to dig for the essence of the problem you’re trying to solve. Often times your customers can’t even consciously identify the problem, but when they see the solution they know they needed it all along. And some problems they don’t even know they have at all until you present it in a way that grabs their attention and spurs them to action to resolving this suddenly very real problem.

So what is the problem your product or service solves? And is it really what it seems to be at first blush, or can you dig deeper and get to something much more profound and important. Because without a problem, there is no need. And without a need you severely cripple the demand for whatever you’re selling.