Thread: Picasso priced his service to its value

That's a lot of money for only a few hours' work!

If you've been in the inspection business for a while, you've probably heard one of your clients say, "That's a lot of money for only a few hours’ work!" As more and more home inspectors use time-saving report-generating software, including pictures (worth a thousand words), and even generate their reports on-site, they also start to make it look easy. When I was an inspector, I used to collect my fee on the job. I had a short but true story I printed on my letterhead and kept it with me to present to any client who questioned how much I was earning. I recently ran across a version of the story in How to Become a Marketing Superstar, a book by Jeffrey J. Fox. The story goes as follows:

That's a lot of money for only a few hours’ work!

Pablo Picasso, the painter, was dining at a restaurant in New York City. A fan introduced herself to him and gushed at how thrilled she was to meet the great artist, and how she loved his work. Encouraged by his polite acceptance, the fan begged, "Oh, Mr. Picasso, would you draw me a sketch?"
Picasso grabbed some paper and, with a pen, promptly sketched the waiters passing parfaits. As the woman reached for the sketch, Picasso said, "Madame, that will be $10,000."
Shocked, she replied, "But that only took you five minutes!"
"No, Madame," replied Picasso. "It took me 50 years."

Picasso priced his service to its value, not to the cost of manufacture. Picasso did not price his service based on the cost of the paper plus the cost of ink plus some hourly wage... and nor should a home inspector. Keep your pricing up.

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Ben, I think you're preaching to the choir on this forum. I think you better talk to your own acolytes.

I like the story on pricing of a Picasso compared to home inspections. Wish that was a true reality in this profession. I have been preforming home inspection for over 14 years now and yes my pricing has increased over the years but no where close to a Picasso. Each year I review my cost of operation, economy standards in my area and state and the demand for home inspections on real estate transactions. I love what I do in performing home inspection for potential buyers, sellers and banks and I believe holding cost down in these economic times can be an asset to anyone in the profession. We do have compotision in our profession and find that some home inspectors are pricing themselves out of the market. So what I would like to add to this post is to be careful on your home inspection fees. I operate my business in a small rural area and travel up to 60 miles so yes with gas prices on the rise does become a concern and is figured in on my pricing but not to the point of gouging the client. Again we as professional home inspectors we provide a service to our clients on the current condition of the home at the time it was inspected and our reports are not usually kept on display as a Picasso would be viewed over a 100 year time peiord.
Lets all keep in mind we are a great asset to those purchaseing real estate but we are not Picasso's.
Keeping pricing of home inspections in a honest and professional manner only keeps our profession one that will have a bright future for many years and build trust and confidence in our knowledge and skills.
Have a great day all.
Ken McConnel
Quality Home & Building Inspection Consultants