Sales professionals all understand that they're going to deal with objections. The pros know that if a prospect is not objecting or asking questions they're not interested. Our sales guru Tibor Shanto has some helpful advice on handling one of the toughest objections. It's when the customer starts talking about the price.

Doesn't matter what you sell, price is always an issue, and price objections are a real challenge for sellers. Here are some things to consider and do when faced with the dreaded price objection. First, price and value are subjective and relative, there are no rules as there may be with things you can measure, value is in the eye of the beholder, and our job as sellers is to make the buyer see relative value for the price. Second, never ever be in a position where you do not have a "walk away" price, a price below which you will not sell, get that in your head before things become emotional.

So – you present your price, and the buyer objects.

First, don't get excited, if you have executed the process well, continue to leverage it, calmly ask the buyer, "OK, please tell me what price you had in mind?" You need to understand what you are dealing with; it's only fair that you know what number they are working with. BTW, you can often mitigate this by establishing their budget and buying process early in the sale; knowing that early, when there is less pressure, is a real advantage.

Whatever number they present, do get offended, don't get excited or defensive, a) – it's their number not yours; b) – it's just a number without context.

Politely ask, "How did you come up with that number?" I can explain how I arrived at my number, so it is only proper that they be able to explain their number. Half the time they can't , they either had a number in mind without much back up, they pulled it off the web, or got a price from a competitor, or some other irrelevant source.

This discussion around their reason for their price point provides the opportunity to review the facts and issue you covered together during Discovery, allowing you to review and help them understand the investment and their ROI.

In the end you still have the choice of re-establishing the value or walking away and moving on to the next prospect, assuming you have some.