I aspire to be a paid professional speaker and to run my own speaking business. When I share this goal with my friend Marc, he asks me one simple question: What big expensive problem do you solve?

This is an important question. We need to clearly explain more than just what product or service we sell. We need to show potential clients what pain points we can solve for them. Problems that cost them time, money, or opportunity. If we can show them that we can solve these problems, they will be more likely to do business with us.

The bigger the problem you solve, the greater the value you provide. This is why it is so important to clearly articulate the problem you solve. It not only helps you to understand exactly what you do, it also helps you explain it to your stakeholders and customers.

Identifying the Problem Your Business Solves

So how do you answer this question? The first step is to look at the pain points for your potential clients. What challenges frustrate your clients the most? Which issues waste their resources or limit growth? If you can offer solutions to these problems, people will want to do business with you.

The next step is to quantify the cost of the problem. Identify time lost, revenue missed, inefficiency, or stress. Use real examples or client stories to illustrate how you have solved this problem for your existing clients. Or, if you don’t have any clients yet, explain how your product or service can solve these problems.

The third step is to focus on relevance. Ensure that the problem you solve is urgent and significant enough that people are willing to pay for a solution.

Understanding the Value You Provide

Part of articulating the problem you solve is defining the value you provide to your clients. And value can be more than just money. It can include efficiency, peace of mind, growth, or competitive advantage.

Be able to explain how your solution reduces costs, increases revenue, or opens opportunities. These are key outcomes that all businesses are looking for. Don’t focus on the features of your product or service. Instead, focus on the benefits and values they will receive for using your product or service.

Align your solution to the client’s goals, not just the features of your products or services. This includes learning your clients’ goals and focusing on their needs. Then you can explain how your product or service will supply the results your clients’ want most.

Communicating the Value Clearly

When you explain your product or service to your client, do you tell them what your does (i.e. its features), or do you focus on communicating the benefits of using that product or service? Many clients won’t care about the features that your product has. What they really want to know is how will it benefit them. In other words, WIIFM (what’s in it for me?).

When explaining what you or your business does, frame your message around benefits rather than just features. If you share a feature, explain how it will benefit your client and his business. For example, if you are a software company that makes financial software, don’t talk about the features of the software, focus on how using the software will make it easier for the client to accurately track his income and expenses, and how that will help him to avoid costly mistakes.

When communicating benefits, use client-focused language, such as: “Here’s what this means for you.” Help the client understand how the use of your product or service will impact her. It is also important to remember to ask questions to understand the client’s needs and goals. Then you can explain how your product or service can meet or even exceed those needs.

When sharing the benefits of your product or service, don’t just make the claim that you provide those benefits. Have evidence that backs up your claim. For example, share results and outcomes – metrics, testimonials, or case studies that prove the value that you provide.

Positioning Your Business as the Solution

One of the best ways to position your business as the solution to your potential clients’ problems is to highlight what makes your approach unique. If there are similar companies to yours, you need to find a way to stand out amongst the competition.

Another way to inspire clients to work with you is to show them how your business reduces the risks of not solving the problem. Clearly articulate how not solving the problem will impact their business. If they can clearly understand not just the problem, but the cost of not solving the problem, then they will see more value in doing business with you.

Position yourself as a partner in solving challenges, not just a vendor. You are not just supplying a product or service. You are partnering with your clients to help them overcome their challenges and to become more effective in satisfying their own customers by doing business with you.

Conclusion: The Power of solving the Right Problem

Every business needs to answer the question: What big expensive problem do you solve? It defines the value you provide to your clients. It helps them to understand how they will benefit by doing business with you.

Solving big, expensive problems creates trust and builds long-term relationships. You do more than just provide a product or service. You create lasting value for your clients that helps them meet their goals and to satisfy the needs of their own clients.

Take the time to identify the real problem you solve – and the value you provide. That’s where growth and impact begin.