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That's a lot of money for only a few hours work!
by Nick Gromicko
Founder, International Association of Certified Home Inspectors
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, include 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 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. Anyway, the story goes as follows:
Founder, International Association of Certified Home Inspectors
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, include 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 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. Anyway, 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 Mr. Picasso's 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, Pablo Picasso said, "Madame. That will be $10,000." Shocked, she replied, "But that only took you 5 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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