We've all been there before - face-to-face with a prospect who demands to know the "bottom line" up front. When you're working with a client or prospect that insists on jumping to the bottom line, try this. Say, "You're on page 8 Mr. Prospect and I'm on page two. I'm uncomfortable talking about price right now, because I'm not sure we've covered the things we need to cover to arrive at a price we can both live with. Is that fair?"

And if they continue to push for price and you know what the price will be, make an agreement by saying, "Mr. Prospect, I'll be happy to give you the price, in fact I'll give it to you right now, but before I do that, can we agree that once I give you the number, we'll back up and cover all the issues that need to be covered. Is that fair?" If they don't agree to back up then you need to withhold your number, because they're just fishing and you're not the fish they really want.