Things You Must Remember in a Salary Negotiation
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I talk about preparing to negotiate salary. This show was originally recorded as a podcast
Now, most people go into a negotiation and they’re completely . . . they screw the pooch. You know, what they do is make huge mistakes all the way through the process and then they come to the end of it and they’re completely ill-prepared.
The momentum is building for them to take a job or reject the job and it’s really outside of your control. So, I want to help you put the brakes on mistakes and, in doing that, give you some pointers that are going to help you be far more effective when you’re negotiating salary. Now, some of this is pretty basic stuff that I think you know but, you know, let’s get, number one, clear about what’s going to be necessary for you or unnecessary as part of your negotiation.
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And if you haven’t done that before your first interview, you’ve got to do it now. Take a little bit of time to pause and sit with a tablet or something else where you can jot a few notes down for yourself and really understand what’s going to be important to you in that next job or organization, what you’ll need to see or hear to believe it’s a good choice and what money you’re really going to need in order to accept the position there. Now, remember, take taxes into into the equation.
It’s one thing if you’re in a zero state income tax area now but moving to New York, which is not a zero state income tax area. So, get clear about your money and, number two, get an idea of your real value for the market area that you’re looking for. Using New York and Florida as an example, it’s not helpful for you to use your New York salary as the benchmark when you’re moving to Florida where the market just doesn’t pay as much.
Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and push for as much money as possible but the salary level in Florida or New Mexico or Iowa is just different than in the big urban areas. So, you have to adjust your expectations and then, from there, figure out whether this is something you can afford to do. Now, in doing all of this, I always remind people instead of getting fixated on the money, I want to remind you that your primary job is to make them fall in love.
Make them believe that you’re the right choice for their organization and really fixate on that as being your primary goal because, after all, the easiest set of circumstances is if you do a crappy job in your interview, in which case, they offer nothing, right? And that’s not what you want. You always want to be getting offers and impressing people because, number one, you never know what you’ll run into these folks again and number two is the more they’re impressed, the more they’re willing to pay for you, right? So, when all is said and done, you have to make them fall in love with you and from the employer perspective, they want to know why you’re interested in their job. What is it about you and your experience that makes this attractive in order to get them interested in you? Now, as we go a little bit further along the process, I always remind people everyone’s got an objection.
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They’re going to try and use objections in order to drive the price down or see if you’ll cave a little bit. After all, I’m just going to use numbers hypothetically. If their budget goes to 100 and you’re looking for 125 and you’re trying to make 125, they may try and knock down your thinking about this job and that doesn’t make them right.
It’s just the strategy on their part. It’s a tactic that they’re trying to employ. So, try and anticipate some of the objections that you’re going to run into.
Well, you’re making too much money for us. Really? Well, I’m finding that a lot of organizations are really quite pleased by this. Have you really had a chance to look around at what the value is for what I do? Have you really explored the market or is this just arbitrary budget stuff? Now, you can do that in a more graceful way but understand they’re trying to knock you down and you’re trying to push them back up.
So, recognize that this is called negotiation. It does not take it or leave it on either side. A lot of folks have gotten lazy about this over the years and I’m just here to remind you that, culturally, if you’re not used to negotiating, you’ve got to start practicing.
I know there are many cultures around the world where negotiation is the norm and if that’s not your experience, hey, walk into a McDonald’s sometime. Walk into a Starbucks. Walk into any restaurant and before you . . . as you order, just simply say, can I negotiate with you about that? And I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to do.
After all, this is Starbucks. This is McDonald’s. They never negotiate.
Well, surprise, sometimes they do. So, just playing with it a little bit in terms of getting practice. Now, I want to remind you of one thing from your vantage point that I think is incredibly important and that is if you go into a negotiation with that attitude of win-win . . . remember, there’s so many organizations trying to teach win-win negotiation.
Well, if it’s a win-win negotiation, that means you’re going to lose. You’re going to give up too many points to them to make them feel good. They’ve got so much more money than you do.
Don’t focus on them winning. They can afford to pay a little bit more for you and to concede some other issues. Remember, win-win means that you lose.
And thus, if you remember that, it also means you have to be prepared to say no. Now, if you’re out of work, and this is your only job offer, you’re more likely to concede more things because you’re anxious to get back to work, especially if you’ve been out for a long time. So, recognize that and try to do things to get them to be a little bit flexible.
So, one of the ways to demonstrate flexibility in terms of the money is to go, thank you. I’m really excited about joining your firm. And I think it’s a very good offer.
But I’m hearing about other offers that are just a touch better. Is it possible you could do a little bit better on this offer? Because what you’re doing by asking that question is asking them to negotiate against themselves. Even if they ask you, well, where do you have other offers? Well, I’ve got an offer for $5,000 more for such and such place or $10,000 more from such place.
Now, if you don’t, and you’re out of work, don’t be a jerk here. Then go humble on them and simply say, I’m really flattered about this offer. And I’m inclined to say yes, but I have to ask you a little candor.
Could you do a touch better? And, you know, how much is it? You know, what whatever you think would be appropriate. You know, at the end of the day, if this is it, I understand. But could you do a touch better? And thus, be smart, be reasonable, whatever they say after that point, say yes to the offer.
Now, a lot of friends of yours are going to encourage you to do some stupid things, because it worked for them. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. Remember, you’re not a skilled negotiator.
You’re not someone who has filled more than 1200 positions plus consulting assignments like I have. You’re not someone who does this all the time like I do. You’re someone who does this once every few years.
And even if it’s once every few months, how many temp assignments have you negotiated for yourself? 20? Maybe? Six? You know, how much experience do you really have? And how many opportunities have you blown through mistakes and tactics? You know, so be reasonable here. Don’t blow an opportunity by overshooting what’s reasonable. Again, remember, I told you to get an idea of your value as you at the beginning of this search.
And before you do any more interviews, get an idea what the market pays for what you do so that you’re crystal clear about what your real value is. Now, I also want to remind you, it’s incredibly important to just find the time and the place to unwind. What happens for so many folks is because this is so important for you, you become deadly serious and you become so tense in everything that you do that the result winds up being that this just stops being fun for you.
And yes, it’s business, but you can’t go crazy on them. You need to find a way to discharge the tension. Get to the gym.
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If it’s winter and you’re a skier, go skiing, go ice skating. Summer, go for a run. Get to the gym and run.
If you’re not a runner, walk. Do something aerobic that’s going to take the tension out of your system so that this way, you can keep your emotions in check. Remember, like they say in the Godfather, if it ain’t business, it’s not business.
It’s not personal. It’s business. So, even if at the end of the day, they say, no, that’s the best that we can do.
I know it’s disappointing. But just remember that at the end of the day, there’s an opportunity there for you that may be worth taking. So, I’m Jeff Altman.
Those are a couple of pointers I have for you. I hope you find them helpful. Come over to my website, TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot there that you can watch, listen to or read to help you find work more quickly.
I also want to mention that, you know, well, if we’re not connected on LinkedIn, send a connection request at LinkedIn.com forward slash IN forward slash TheBigGameHunter. I accept connection requests from people worldwide, except if you look like a spammer or scammer, except if you’re a third party recruiter. Finally, like I’ve said before, in ways of job search, you are an amateur.
You are not a professional. You do this every few years. And if you attempt, you may do it every six months, six weeks, what have you.
You’ve done it nowhere near as much as I have. Rather than make mistakes in your job search that you’re going to find costly, instead, contact me through PrestoExperts.com or schedule a session through either clarity.fm or my website, which is TheBigGameHunter.us. You’ll see a section on my site that says, do you have any questions or something to that effect. Reach out to me through one of those services.
Let’s schedule a time to speak, because you don’t want to do anything that’s going to be costly. Do you? You know, costly in terms of the amount of money that you make at the end of the day, costly in terms of missing out on an opportunity that you’re going to want to get. So I’m Jeff Altman.
Hope you enjoyed today’s show. Hope you have a great day. Take care.
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