Negotiation coaches can be found in many places. They range from teaching you how to negotiate to doing it for you. They listen to your situation and draft a customized negotiation script that you can send to your hiring manager. But how do you know when you chose the right coach? Read on for the 7 qualities of a great coach to find out.
1. Knowledgeable
Conducting a salary negotiation requires knowing what you’re doing. A good negotiation coach knows proven negotiation tactics and can effectively utilize them. It’s not just about knowing everything either. Even the best negotiation coach doesn’t know the value of every job, position, or skill, so they know where to find the information they need.
2. Adaptive
Lewis Lin once told me that people aren’t like gold bars, where all of them are identical and have a set price. Instead, people are more like houses. They’re all unique in different ways, but are comparable to each other. Even though it’s a new client and new situation every time, a good negotiation coach can adapt to each person’s job history, skills, and future goals to give educated advice.
3. Good listener
It’s not only the people themselves who are different. Some people have different desires too. A good negotiation coach has to be willing to listen to your story. For example, not everyone wants a higher salary. Instead, a client might want more flexible work hours or be able to work from home. A good negotiation coach will listen to your individual desires instead of assuming that you just want a salary increase.
4. Persistent
The job market and the economy is always changing, so the value of a certain position or skill is always changing too. That means that a good negotiation coach has to always be willing to do more research. What they knew about a certain job in the past may not be the same now. Even a very knowledgeable negotiation coach will also run into an industry or position that they don’t know about. When they don’t know something, they have to be willing to do extra work and find the relevant information.
5. Honest
A good salary negotiation coach understands that he has a fiduciary duty to his clients. That’s why he will be honest with you about your market value and the fairness of your job offer and give you advice about what’s best for you, not his business. Even if a job offer is generous, a dishonest negotiation coach will tell you that you need more so you’ll buy his service.
6. Creative
A good salary negotiation coach knows that there a wide variety of benefits and perks you can ask for in salary negotiations. They should be able to educate you on more creative perks so that you can decide if you want benefits other than a salary increase or extra vacation days. A good coach can also be creative in their combination of benefits to fit your needs.
7. Experienced
Expert negotiation skills come from practice, so you want to make sure that your salary negotiation coach has experience in negotiations. They don’t have to be formally trained, but should be able to tell you how they helped themselves and others through their negotiation skills.
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