The famous painter Picasso, so the story goes, was dining at a fancy restaurant in New York. A fan feeling prominent enough to introduce herself to Picasso did exactly that. Blah blah blah blah blah, how the socialite loved his work, how thrilled she was to meet him, how exciting to converse with a legendary painter. Mr Picasso's polite acceptance encouraged the fan to ask if Mr. Picasso could draw her a sketch. While waiters were passing sorbets and parfaits, Mr. Picasso did exactly that: he grabbed a napkin, a pencil and started a quick sketch

As the woman grabbed for the napkin, Mr. Picasso said "Madame, that will be 10000 USD". The women reacted in a shock "but that took you only a few minutes!". "No Madame" replied Pablo Picasso "It took me 50 years".

Mr. Picasso priced his product to value, not to its time or cost of manufacture. He priced it to its investment value. A sketch with the name "Picasso" is worth more than a similar sketch with the name "Johnny Simpleton". The lesson from this story is that a search consultant needs to price his product to the economic value for the customer, not to the time invested, or the amount of candidates presented, or the seniority of the position.

Learn the economic value a succesful placement represents, and you will have learned the essentials about the service you provide.