Command an entry to appear in a cell based on another's contents

[g0g0]

7-17-14

The answer to this question may be that I need to use the vlookup function. I just tried to familiarize myself with this process and I can see immediately it's complicated and poses a fairly steep learning curve for me. IF ANYONE SEEING THIS POST KNOWS A SIMPLER WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Otherwise tell me there is no alternative--that I need to learn my way around the
vlookup function. Here's the problem:

How do I command Excel (what function(s) can I use) to enter a specific piece of data-- numerical or text-- into a cell depending on what is found in a neighboring cell in another column?

For example, suppose I have a column containing a long series of last names-- Smith, Jones, Green, Brown, etc. How do I command Excel to search through that column, row by row, and every time it encounters the name Smith, enter the sum $1000.00 in a cell in a neighboring column;
every time it encounters the name Jones, enter $5,000.00 in the neighboring column; for Green, enter $3000.00 and so forth. Alternatively, enter text data instead, for example an entry like Consultation:Urology for every entry containing Smith, Consultation:Orthopedics for every entry containing Jones, etc.

Is there a straightforward way to accomplish this without using vlookup?

Thanks in advance to anyone who sees this and can help.

[mehmetcik]

I prefer to use match and offset.

eg:-

=OFFSET(L$1,MATCH(A1,K$1:K$3,0)-1,0)