A pricing lesson from Pablo Picasso

Hi

I just read this in a book and I thought you might appreciate it.

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A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk café. The woman asked Picasso if he might sketch her and charge accordingly.

Picasso obliged. In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.

“And what do I owe you?” she asked.

“Five thousand francs,” he answered.

“But it only took you three minutes,” she politely reminded him.

“No,” Picasso said. “It took me all my life.”
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The moral is don’t charge by the hour. Charge by the years!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessa

The moral is don’t charge by the hour. Charge by the years!

Great post Tessa.

I experienced this concept personally last week. My clothes dryer stopped working. I spent at least a couple hours checking it out and looking on the Internet trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally, I gave in and decided to call a repair man.

Once the repairman arrives he walks into my laundry room only to come out 60 seconds later with workorder in hand. I said, "You've got to be kidding." He says, "Nope, we're all done here" and hands me a bill for $65.

Believe it or not I paid the bill without batting a lash because I knew that I was paying him for his years of experience not his few seconds of labor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Houston

Great post Tessa.

I paid the bill without batting a lash because I knew that I was paying him for his years of experience not his few seconds of labor.

In the same book, there was another story about a carpenter, where the carpenter came to fix a persistant floor squeak. The carpenter fixed the squeak in a few seconds with three blows of a hammer. The carpenter pulled out an invoice slip, on which he wrote the total of $45. Above the total were 2 line items:
Hammering $2
Knowing where to hammer, $43.

The moral was "charge for knowing where."

Tessa

Thanks, Tessa.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Houston

Believe it or not I paid the bill without batting a lash because I knew that I was paying him for his years of experience not his few seconds of labor.

I'm not sure how many others would be so willing. By this I mean, I'm not sure how many people really appreciate the concept.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessa

Hi

I just read this in a book and I thought you might appreciate it.

----------------------------------
A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk café. The woman asked Picasso if he might sketch her and charge accordingly.

Picasso obliged. In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.
“And what do I owe you?” she asked.
“Five thousand francs,” he answered.
“But it only took you three minutes,” she politely reminded him.
“No,” Picasso said. “It took me all my life.”
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The moral is don’t charge by the hour. Charge by the years!

That's a good lesson for all of us. Here's two more in one story.

A medical practice is on the ground floor level of a small office building. Their floor drains are backing up into their waiting room and examining rooms. They call a plumber for an emergency repair.

The plumber rushes in 15 minutes later, looks at the problem and tells the lead doctor it will cost $300 dollars to fix the problem. The doctor agrees saying, “Just hurry and get it fixed.”

Twenty minutes later the water starts to go down the drains and the plumber presents his bill. The doctor says, “How could you charge so much for 20 minutes work?”

The plumber says “Because you were willing to pay that much to have the problem fixed immediately.”

As the doctor is making out the check he grumbles, “I don’t make that kind of money for twenty minutes work.”

The plumber says “Yes, I know. I didn’t make that kind of money either, when I was a doctor.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesWerth

As the doctor is making out the check he grumbles, “I don’t make that kind of money for twenty minutes work.”

The plumber says “Yes, I know. I didn’t make that kind of money either, when I was a doctor.”

Hi Jacques

That is very very funny.

A pricing lesson from Pablo Picasso

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