Salary Negotiation Script: Getting a Higher Salary

Here's a salary negotiation script to negotiate your job relocation package. 

Dear Mr. Recruiter,

Thank you for offering me the Assistant Sales Director position. I would like to express again how excited I am to begin working for your company.

Before I can accept however, I would like to discuss the matter of compensation. As we discussed in the interviews, I have two more years of experience and formal training than you required in the job description. I have also demonstrated my capabilities in my last position at my previous company by increasing sales in my division by 25% and personally landed several multi-million dollar sales. With my expertise, an acceptable salary would fall in the range of $103,000-$112,000, a bit higher than your offer of $94,000.

I can certainly see a future for myself at the company, and I’m confident that I can bring a lot of value. I know that we can come to a mutual agreement on an acceptable salary.

Thank you for your time,

Potential Hire

How Should I Negotiate My Salary?

This guest post from Christine Ko, my co-author for our latest salary negotiation book, Five Minutes to a Higher Salary.

Negotiate In Person

Pros

• Gauge other party’s reactions
• Often the fastest form of negotiation
• Can use subtle negotiation tactics like leveraging silence

Cons

• The other party can see your reactions
• You could feel or seem nervous
• You might give in to their subtle negotiation tactics and leave money on the table
• Might take time to arrange a meeting
• Can’t read from a script or risk looking like an unskilled negotiator
• Can be interrupted by the other party
• Might forget talking points or be unable to say everything you wanted

Who should use this method?

• People who are comfortable with negotiation and are confident in their arguments and skills.
• People who need fast answers

Negotiate Over the Phone

Pros

• Still hear the reactions of the other party
• Can use a script/talking points more easily
• Can talk long distance
• Can arrange a phone call quickly
• Negotiations will end more quickly than over email

Cons

• Might run into connection problems
• You might feel and sound nervous
• Can be interrupted by other party
• May not be able to say everything you wanted

Who should use this method?

• People who still want to try traditional negotiation tactics but need still need guidance from a script
• People who can’t meet with their recruiter directly because of distance

Negotiate Via Email

Pros

• Can choose specific words to say
• Can make sure to include every argument you want to

Cons

• Will take longer for a response and a conclusion
• Cannot take into account the other party’s reactions

Who should use this method?

• People uncomfortable with direct negotiation
• People who want to make sure that their request includes everything important

HIGHLIGHTS: Lewis C. Lin Interview on Rise Above the Noise, with Marty Nemko, on NPR Radio

This morning, Marty Nemko interviewed me on NPR's San Francisco affiliate, KALW 91.7 FM. Here are some of the talking points from our lively 45 minute discussion today. You can also listen to the Rise Above the Noise interview sound clip.

MARTY: Standard advice on how to interview focuses on the basics that will only keep you in the running: how to answer questions like “Tell me about yourself” and “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” And to smile and make eye-contact. But to significantly increase your chances of being the candidate who actually gets the job, for all but low-level jobs, requires much more . That’s why I was pleased to see two books by Lewis Lin. They focus what it takes to be outstanding in the interview.  The books focus on  marketing and product management jobs but they have far broader applicability. I think that even if you’re not looking for a job and aren’t interested in a career in marketing or product management, you’ll find this segment interesting because it will give you a window into the little-known world of how products come to market and stay there, and the ever more sophisticated, perhaps even scary world of marketing—how companies try to get you to buy.  Lewis Lin is CEO of Impact Interview, an interview coaching firm, named by CNN as one of the top 10 job tweeters you should follow, formerly a director at Microsoft and at Google, led product launches. He has a BS in computer science from Stanford and and MBA from Northwestern. And he’s the author of Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews and Rise Above the Noise: How to Standout at the Marketing Interview. Lewis, welcome to Work with Marty Nemko.

To give us a sense of the level of excellence required for most good jobs today, let’s take a concrete example.  Teavana is a company that sells tea in shopping malls and in standalone cafes. Their branding is all about how socially conscious they are. If I were interviewing you for a job in marketing at Teavana and asked you to develop a marketing campaign based on their social consciousness branding, how would you answer?

LEWIS: We'd start by approaching it with a plan of action. We'd want to understand the goals, target audience, and positioning. Then, we'd brainstorm tactics such as a memorable tagline like the "100. 100. 100. Campaign." That is, empower 100 million women with education in developing countries, 100 thousand women to start new businesses, and develop 100 female CEOs at Fortune 100 companies.

Let’s tear that apart. What are the generalizable principles about interviewing that were embedded in your answer?

LEWIS: Creativity absolutely matters. So many interviews are dull and boring. Demonstrate a lot of creativity, sprinkle in some vigor and passion, and you'll stand out from other candidates well after the interview.

Let’s take another example. Let’s say an interviewer at Clorox, which owns Kingsford charcoal says, “Charcoal sales are down because more people are using gas grills. How would you try to boost sales?”

LEWIS: Here we want to approach it by asking clarifying questions. This is not a police interrogation. It's a conversation. There are no heat lamps, and there are no one-way mirrors. So if you're not a charcoal market expert, ask the interviewer. They might have information that'll make it easier for you and increase the quality of your response.

MARTY: Let’s do one more: Let’s say I’m Costco and I ask you, “Estimate the cost of a drone delivery service.”

LEWIS: The key here is to have a plan of action. If you think about this question, it's really about two things: supply and demand. For demand, we need to figure out how many Costco customers will use the drone delivery service. For supply, we need to figure out the number of drones to service these customers. By approaching this question with this plan in mind, we now have a blueprint on asking the right questions to calculate an answer.

MARTY: Are there any other important concepts in interviewing you’d like to mention?

LEWIS: Many candidates get really nervous at the interview. To battle those nerves, borrow a tip from your favorite TV news anchor. Figure out what you'll say in advance: anticipate interview questions and writing your response. Practice it a few times verbally, and you'll feel a lot better because you'll no longer have to worry about what to say.

6 Salary Negotiation Tips to Earn You More Money

This guest post from Christine Ko, my co-author for our latest salary negotiation book, Five Minutes to a Higher Salary.

A while ago I met with a couple of my friends for dinner. All of us had recently gotten jobs, and I asked them if they negotiated their salaries for their positions. Not surprisingly, they both said no.

These were their reasons:

Friend 1: It’s a really big, established company. I’m sure they have strict guidelines for their positions, so I didn’t bother negotiating.

Friend 2: I’m working for a small startup, so I bet they don’t have a lot of flexibility in what they could pay me. I’m sure they offered me what they could.

Two completely different companies in their size and focus and yet both of my friends assumed that the pay wasn’t negotiable. That leads me to the first salary negotiation tip:

1. Always assume the salary is negotiable. salaryBOOST wouldn’t even exist if salaries were always written in stone. You wouldn’t go into a car dealership and frankly tell the dealer that $30,000 was the most you were willing to pay for a certain car. Instead, you tell them that you won't go higher than $24,000, even if that isn't really true. Your employer is trying to do the same thing. They want you to join the company (just like you want the car), but they want you for the lowest price (just like you want to pay as little as possible).

2. Don’t disclose your salary expectations until you actually get an offer. And especially do not include your salary requirements as early as the cover letter for an interview. Acting like you got the job before they offer you a position will put off your recruiter. Stating requirements before the job offer also limits your ability to negotiate later. If you quote too high, they might screen you out, saying that you’re too expensive. If you quote low, they might try to pay you less than what you’re worth. You’ll lose your rapport with the employer if you backtrack and say that what you quoted before was too low.

3. Look for win-win situations and be positive. Many people avoid negotiation because they don't want conflict. So here's an easy olution: don't make it a conflict. Having a pessimistic attitude will also make you lose confidence in what you can earn. If you don’t think you can negotiate and earn more, your recruiter will notice your lack of confidence and leave a negative impression.

4. Only use relevant, professional reasons as to why you deserve more. Don’t include personal reasons. My friend’s negotiation positions would have been weak if they complained that college was becoming very expensive and that they needed to get a new car. 

5. When explaining your accomplishments, try to be very specific and add (real) numbers. Claiming that you increased your previous company’s sales by 32% sounds more convincing and impressive than just saying that you helped the company increase their sales. Include non-work related accomplishments only if they are actually relevant to your job description. You might mention a game you developed in your free time that had 3 million users, or that you were the president of a professional board.

6. Be prepared with answers to common rebuttals your recruiter might say. What will you say if they ask what makes you different than others in the company in the same position? What will you say if they offer you the choice of a company car or a company laptop?

Hopefully these tips will help you next time you are faced with a salary negotiation. It always helps to know a little extra, so share with your friends and family who might have to negotiate soon.

Photo credit to Simon Cunningham

Creative Ways to Increase Your Compensation Package

This guest post from Christine Ko, my co-author for our latest salary negotiation book, Five Minutes to a Higher Salary.

"The more you know, the smarter you grow!"

In fact, with salary negotiations, the more you know, the more your benefits will grow too. 

Salary may be the biggest part of your compensation package, but the other benefits can be grow to be worth thousands of dollars over time. 

Benefit 1: Education

Paying for your tuition can be a win-win for you and your employer in many different ways. First, continuing your education by getting a degree or more degrees can allow you to succeed in and out of the company. Many executive positions require higher degrees, so continuing your education will open doors that weren’t available before. Investing in your education will also help your employer because they want to cultivate leaders within their organization. They want competent, qualified employees and one way is to create them through covering their education. As an added bonus, they’ll probably get tax breaks as well.

Benefit 2: Company car/laptop/phone

While most companies cannot provide just one employee with a company car/laptop/phone without hearing complaints from the other employees, these benefits can be traded for other items. For example, if you don’t need a company phone that they are offering, you can ask to trade it for something that you do want, like a gym membership. THere’s no point in taking something you don’t need, and you’ll save your employer money by not using it. Ask for something else instead.

Benefit 3: Discounts on products

This is another scenario where you create a win-win situation for yourself and your employer. If your new company sells consumer products, ask for a special employee discount if one isn’t already in place. They could sell products to you at a lower price and still keep it high enough to make a profit. These are items you might not have bought otherwise.

Benefit 4: Cost of living adjustment

As inflation increases over the years, so does the cost of living. If you get a 2% raise every year and inflation goes up by the same percentage, you’re really not gaining anything. Ask to implement a cost of living adjustment where your salary is increased based on a government cost of living index. Then your 5% raise will actually raise your net income by 5%, instead of just a mere 3% accounting for inflation.

Benefit 5: Early reviews

If they can’t raise your salary now, ask for an early review instead of waiting for the annual review. This is again another win-win situation for you and your employer. Knowing that there is a special review will motivate you to work harder (win for the employer) and if you don’t meet the level of performance you agreed on, then they don’t have to pay extra (win for the employer again). If you meet the goals you outlined, you’ll earn more money sooner, putting you in a position to earn even more in the next review period.

Benefit 6: Professional Memberships

Being a member of a professional membership in you area can give you skills and training that will make you a more productive worker. You may be able to negotiate and ask your employer to pay your membership dues and allow you time off to go to seminars and training sessions.

Tell us about some creative solutions you have used in the past! We'd love to hear about it.

Photo credit to Enokson

4 Motivating Reasons Why You Should Negotiate Your Salary

This guest post from Christine Ko, my co-author for our latest salary negotiation book, Five Minutes to a Higher Salary.

Everyone has heard a child whine "do I really need to?" about an unappealing task. But just like he needs to go to school and eat his vegetables, you really do need to negotiate your salary. Here are some pretty convincing reasons why.

You’ll make more money.

The main reason you should negotiate your salary is obvious – to increase it. The company isn’t going to fight on your behalf, so it is up to you to ask for what you want. Companies usually put a little wiggle room in the salaries that they offer as well, so you don’t have to assume that the salary is fixed.

Extra Tip: Don’t sound demanding or entitled, even if you really do believe you deserve a certain compensation package. Being polite and professional will help you get there.

And in case you still need more reasons...

You’ll earn your recruiter’s respect.

Negotiating your salary can impress your recruiter, especially if done professionally and effectively. They want to know how competent and confident you are, so showcasing your achievements as reasons for a raise is an excellent tactic to impress your recruiter.

Extra Tip: Make sure your reasons are relevant and true. A fake accomplishment can jeopardize your job offer.

You’ll fall behind in wages if you don’t.

Once you get your first salary in a company, all future raises will be based on the initial one. That is why it is important to earn a fair salary from the very beginning. Even if everyone in your team gets a 5% raise, you’ll still be underpaid if you were underpaid from the start.

Extra Tip: On the other hand, if you negotiate for a fair initial salary, you’ll start riding the upward spiral, where a good salary in the beginning leads to bigger and better ones down the road.

You’ll feel more valued in the company.

Being underpaid is not a motivating influence. In fact, in the long run, you’ll feel underappreciated and feel resentment toward your company. You and your employer both want you to feel satisfied with the company, and a fair salary is one way to make sure you want to stay.

Extra Tip: Of course, being paid a fair salary means you have to show that you deserve it. That means no slacking off! You told your recruiter you deserve more, so make sure that they don’t regret it. It could hurt your chances later on.

As always, feel free to comment and share this post!

Photo credit to Bhaskar Peddhapati

Good Interview Candidate, Bad Interview Candidate

Good interview candidates apply to a small handful of jobs because they know what they want. Bad interview candidates apply to all jobs because they don't want to miss out.

Good interview candidates write cover letters that are brief, relevant, and when appropriate, entertaining. Bad interview candidates cut-and-paste cover letters, leaving the reader to figure out how they are different from everyone else.

Good interview candidates know the company, the customer, the products and the competition. Bad interview candidates tell themselves that they'll learn about the company, customer, and products during orientation week.

Good candidates anticipate interview questions. Bad candidates don't know what questions to expect.

Good candidates write interview responses in advance. Bad candidates don't see the value of clarifying their thoughts in writing, before they speak.

Good candidates verbally rehearse their written responses so they don't worry about what they're going to say. Verbal practice helps them appear casual, conversational, and relaxed. Bad candidates prepare for interviews by spending countless hours passively reading about the company.

Good candidates know what the hiring manger is looking for. They redline the job description. They've circle all the important keywords including skills and experiences they're looking for. They ask the recruiter (or friends at the company) thoughtful tips and clues about the hiring manager and the position: What is he looking for? What are his pet peeves? What did he like or not like about other candidates or (if applicable) the candidate's predecessor?

Good candidate promote themselves effectively. Good candidates think about the story they want the interviewers to share at the water cooler. Bad candidates think about covering every career moment on the resume. Good candidates use the right keywords, using vocabulary and concepts familiar to the interviewer. Bad candidates use language familiar to only themselves.

Good candidates ask the interviewer questions. Bad candidates react to interview questions. Good candidates assume interviewers are really smart. Bad candidates assume that interviewers are dumb and can't tell if the candidate is "winging it."

Good candidates are precise in the words that they use. Bad candidates use business jargon that everyone else is using. Good candidates can explain the meaning behind the words they choose. Bad candidates can't explain what their words mean for more than 10 seconds.

Good candidates talk about their careers with passion, detail and conviction because they love what they've done, what they're currently doing, and what they will do. Bad candidates avoid talking about their careers. They make excuses for not speaking. But the truth is that they either don't know what to say or too afraid to say something that hurts their chances at getting the job.

Good candidates have interview responses that are complete, logical and satisfying. Bad candidates have interview responses that are fragmented and illogical. Bad candidates shift the burden to the interviewer and let the interviewer do the hard work of figuring out what the candidate is saying.

Good candidates explain their careers in way that it sounds fun. Bad candidates explain their careers that it sounds boring.

Good candidates send thank you notes because they appreciate the interviewer for taking time out of his or her busy schedule. Bad candidates don't send thank you notes because they take the interviewer's time for granted. Or they don't have the discipline to write a thank you note when they're busy.

Good candidates demonstrate value to the prospective employer before, during, and after the interview. They redesign their web page, create a new marketing brochure, or propose a new product and share it with the interviewer. Bad candidates wait until they are on the job to demonstrate their worth.

Good candidates welcome job offers with excitement and gratitude because they know it's what they want. Bad candidates hem and haw when receiving a job offer because they don't know how a company fits into their life plan.

Good candidates enjoy the new job because they are eager to learn, adapt and change. Bad candidates complain about the new job because it's not comfortable.

Inspired by Ben Horowitz's article

Photo Credit: Alex Gorzen