Searching For Why, Not Who

Often when I'm talking to a potential client, I ask them how their business performs on the search engines. Typically I get a grin and a proud: "We are great on search engines!". But almost always, I find that they are searching for their business name along with the city & state they are located in. Although this is good that their business comes up with a such a specific search, this is merely using search engines as a glorified phone book. In other words, this is good, as long as the person searching already knows their business name, location and specifically wants that business' contact information. 

The problem, of course, is that most people are not using the web like this typically. If my sink has a leaky pipe, I'm not thinking of a specific plumbing company by name... I'm thinking: I need a plumber now! In other words, people are usually searching for the "why" and not the "who". This means that most searches are looking for the services you offer rather than the company name itself. When my sink is leaking and making my kitchen look like the beginning stages of Noah's flood, I am typing something like: "Plumbers Whitewater WI" rather than "ABC Plumbing Company Inc. in Whitewater, Wisconsin". I'm franticly looking for a quick search fix based on my need, my "why". I'm looking for a service or product, not a specific company name.