To build a winning product, it's essential to identify and solve a real customer problem. Too many startups, products/features fail or flounder because they build something that people don't want or are unwilling to pay for (with their money, time, data, etc.).
There are many legitimate ways to determine whether a problem is "real" or not. Talking to customers (discovery interviews, sales calls, etc.) is a classic approach to uncover problems. The tricky thing is people will tell you about problems that can sound real, but they may lack genuine interest in a solution. This happens even if you ask the right questions. How can we tell the difference?
Signal that the problem isn't real
Acceptable free or cheap workaround
If an acceptable free or cheap workaround exists, it's less likely to be a valuable problem to solve. There's little motivation for someone to seek out another solution, because the problem is essentially already solved. A new solution has to be a LOT better to justify switching.
No proactive searching for a solution
If customers aren't looking for a solution, they probably don't care enough about the problem. A better solution might exist, but they'll miss it entirely. They won't seek out your product. It's easier to talk about a problem than to actually take action to solve it.
Evidence of a real problem
Expensive or inferior workaround
If customers are using expensive or inferior solutions, such as manual processes with the wrong tools, that's a very positive sign. They've spent resources to tackle the problem but haven't fully solved it.
Existing competitive/alternative products
Customers buying alternative products to solve the same problem is strong evidence that they want the problem to be solved. Even better if those competitive/alternative products are inferior in some way.
Commitment to take action
If a potential customer shows eagerness and is willing to commit to proceeding with next steps, that is a great sign. Their behavior is demonstrating that they care about solving the problem, and they believe you can offer a solution.
It sounds like desired progress
If the problem sounds more like desired progress than a complaint, it's more likely to be a real problem. They are actively looking to move from point A to point B and will want to take the best path to get there.
Don't get confused by this stuff
Statements about future behavior
Even if a customer says they would use a product or feature, you can't trust that they really will. It's not because they are lying to you, people are just not good at predicting future behavior. The past is specific, the future is fuzzy.
Complements
Complements can sound very promising, but be wary of interpreting it as actual interest in a solution. It's entirely possible that they are just being polite. Even if the complements are genuine they might not have the problem themselves.
Solution ideas
Solution ideas and feature requests can be extremely insightful, but they don't translate to a guaranteed future sale or usage. People just don't always know what they want, so it's better to interpret a solution idea as an opportunity to uncover the underlying problem.
Examples
"I've been riding my bike to work. My bike chain 'skips' when I'm in my highest gear. It's been a few months that I've had to avoid using that gear. I just haven't gotten around to fixing it."
Signals that it's not a "real" problem:
- Acceptable free or cheap workaround: it's free (zero time or money) to just avoid using the highest gear. It might mean marginally slower speeds, but there are no real consequence from leaving it unsolved for months.
- No proactive searching for a solution: it's been months without taking 5 minutes to watch a YouTube video to learn how to fix it, or taking it into a bike shop for service.
"It's annoying to plug my MacBook into the charger over and over again. I would totally buy something that solved that for me."
Signal that it's not a "real" problem:
- Acceptable free or cheap workaround: As annoying as it might be, it's free and only takes seconds to plug in a MacBook. That's hard to compete with.
- No proactive searching for a solution: It's likely that the customer has not done any searching because it doesn't sound like they are familiar with docking stations designed to make it easier to plug in a MacBook. Worth follow up questions.
Don't get confused by:
- Statement about future behavior: They say they'd totally buy it, but this is an unreliable statement about their future behavior. There are so many additional unknowns that will influence them.
"I'm moving to Hawaii for the summer in April and need to transport my surfboard without damaging it. It doesn't make financial sense to rent a board for that long so that's out. I thought about buying one and selling it when I get there, but I like my board and don't want to deal with the hassle."
Evidence of a real problem:
- Expensive or inferior workaround: It's possible to rent another board, or buy and sell a board there -- but one is expensive and the other is inferior.
- Sounds like desired progress: The trip is happening. It's almost guaranteed that there's a product or service that is going to be purchased to solve this problem.
Let's go get those insights
This is far from an exhaustive guide (there are many books on this topic!) but talking to the right customers, asking the right questions, and then analyzing responses for patterns like these can produce valuable insights about the customer problem you are solving. And of course, steering towards the right problems can change the entire trajectory of a product.