Whether they have tried to solve their problem or not, tells you if they are willing to try whatever solution you could come up with and if they would pay for it. The harder they have tried to solve their problem, the bigger their interest will be in a potential new solution.Questions to determine their level of motivation:<ul><li>How did you try to solve this?</li><li>Did you look up any information about ... ?</li><li>Have you asked anyone for recommendations on ... ?</li></ul>

Have they searched for solutions?

Find out exactly what is bothering them the most. Questions you can use for this are:<ul><li>What was the most difficult thing when you ... ?</li><li>What annoyed you the most when ... ?</li></ul>

What are they complaining about?

After you understand their problem, how it affects them and their level of motivation to solve it, it's time to decide if it's worth discussing it with your team and exploring it further.Signs you should explore it<ul><li>They have invested time, energy or money in finding a solution.</li><li>It occurs often and is annoying.</li></ul>Signs you should ignore it or postpone it until another customer mentions it<ul><li>They haven't tried to solve it.</li><li>It rarely occurs and has a low impact on their life.</li></ul>

Put it all together

Once you have identified their problem, it's important to gauge how much it affects their life. Find out when and how often they experience this problem.Questions you could use:<ul><li>When was the last time you experienced this?</li><li>Has this happened to you on other occasions?</li><li>Does it always happen when ... ?</li></ul>

When do they experience the problem?

During customer interviews there is a small chance the person you are talking to will mention a problem you haven't considered yet. When this happens, you need to be ready to dig down into it and quickly determine if it's a problem worth exploring.Having a good set of questions ready-to-go allows you to focus more on listening to the other person than on coming up with good questions on the spot.

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