Successful Salary Negotiation

Do you want to be paid what you‘re worth? Do you want to know the steps you need to take to make sure that your next salary negotiation results in a better offer? In this short report,

I‘ve the basic important steps you need to take to prepare for a successful salary negotiation. If you follow these steps, you‘ll be better able to ask for, and get, the compensation you deserve.

Before the negotiation

Remember the 5 P‘s: “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”. If you properly prepare for your negotiation you‘ll improve the chances for a successful outcome and for getting what you want.

 

1. Know the market for your job title.

You wouldn‘t walk into an auto dealer‘s showroom to buy a car if you didn‘t know the market price for the car you are planning to buy. Just the same, you shouldn‘t go to a job interview without knowing the current salary ranges typically offered for the type of work you do. How can you know how much salary to request if you don‘t know the current salary ranges?

2. Know the current supply of people who do the work you do and, if possible, are applying for the same job.

This relates to the old rule of supply and demand. If you are the only person who does the type of work you do and/or you are the only person qualified to do the job, you‘re in a great position to ask for more money. If you know that you are one among many people who are probably applying for the same job, you can see that your bargaining position is less and you may need back off on demanding too much.

3. Establish your criteria before you negotiate.

Know exactly what you want you want and why you want it. If you are clear about what you want from the negotiation, you‘ll be in a better position to ask for and get it.

4. Create a list of the benefits you bring to your new employer

These are your reasons you offer when making your request for more. A smart negotiator is able to back up a request with a benefit.

5. Decide on your —bottom line“BEFORE you negotiate

Decide what you will accept as an absolute minimum and where you‘ll be flexible BEFORE you go into a negotiation. Be clear about what you want up front and be clear about what is the lowest you‘ll accept before you walk away from the offer.

6. Decide on alternative benefits.

If, for some reason, the salary offer is not flexible, you might ask for other benefits such as vacation time, sign on bonuses, laptop computer, etc. A company or hiring manager may not be in a position to offer a different salary but may have more flexibility in providing other types of compensation, rewards, or benefits.

7. Base your requests on a clear understanding of the nature of your job

Make sure you clearly understand the nature of the job you are negotiating over. Be clear about the hours you will work, your workload, when you‘ll receive a salary review, etc. The more you know about the job, the less likely you‘ll find that the job wasn‘t what you thought it was.

8. When negotiating, think Win/Win.

The ideal outcome from a salary negotiation is for both you, and the person hiring you, to feel that a fair agreement has been reached. You don‘t want an outcome where you feel you are being underpaid because that starts you off on your new job feeling like you‘ve been cheated. On the other hand, you don‘t want your employer feeling that they are overpaying because you demanded more. Employers who feel they are overpaying someone will tend to demand more from this person and may put this overpaid person on the top of the list if a time comes for layoffs.

During the Negotiation

1. Be positive and upbeat.

Some negotiation situations are necessarily combative but a salary negotiation is best accomplished in a cooperative format, UNLESS, you happen to know that the other person prefers confrontation.

2. Work on the issues as the challenge, not on each other

In a salary negotiation, it helps to avoid confrontation by trying to focus together on the issues as the challenge, not each other. In a sense, you are both on the same side trying to resolve issues together.

3. When asking for something in a negotiation, you

must connect it to the other person‘s benefit. Remember to negotiate based on you, what you bring to the table, not what you need. It may sound cold but your future employer doesn‘t care that you want the extra salary for a new car or new home. They DO care about getting a benefit from you that may be worth paying more for. They want to get a bargain and when you offer additional skills, experience, or benefits as your reason for asking for more money, you‘ll be most likely to get it. For example, if you ask for perks like a laptop computer or cell phone, emphasize how these perks will benefit the organization and make you more productive

4. Bring to the negotiation documentation of what you offer and of your accomplishments.

Bring copies of documents that prove what you have done and/or what you can do. In most negotiations this isn‘t necessary, but it can be very helpful if the person you‘re negotiating with seems to doubt your skills or accomplishments.

5. Have a contingency plan so you already know what you‘re going to do if…

What if one of your requests is not met, none of them are met, or you get nowhere with your requests? Think about this before the negotiation and have a response planned.

6. Always open a negotiation conversation with positives

You can start by thanking the person for the job offer or about how you expect to benefit the company, the job, etc. This helps to set a positive tone for the negotiation.

7. Use questions rather than making demands.

It‘s better to be polite and ask for requests rather than demanding what you want. Also remember not to ask questions that can be answered with —No“ because this might close the topic for good. For example: Don‘t ask —Is the salary negotiable?“ because they can simply say —No.“ It‘s better to ask something like: —How negotiable is the salary?“ because this requires an answer that isn‘t final.

8. Keep calm, cool, and professional

No matter how the negotiation is going even is you end up walking away from

an offer, it‘s best to do this in a professional manner.