Best Tips For Successful Salary Negotiation

Best Tips For Successful Salary Negotiation

Are you facing your first salary negotiation and need tips on how to best conduct the conversation with your boss? In every professional career, such a negotiation sooner or later comes up. We present you here a few useful tips that you should follow for a successful salary negotiation.

Tip 1: The Salary Negotiation Is No Place For Demands

Manners play an important role. You should be gentle and rhetorically thoughtful. Ask your boss for an “adjustment” of the salary and not for a “salary increase”. From his point of view, this first raises the question of what your salary needs to be adjusted to. Prepare yourself with arguments, for example, that you have permanently exceeded certain goals, that your scope of tasks and responsibilities has been expanded, or that you have successful project completions to show for it.

No-go: Demanding or threatening or even blackmailing negotiating tone.

Tip 2: Make The First Step

Go into the salary negotiation with a concrete salary request, this tip is important because in combination with your arguments you appear determined and assign your boss the reactive role. Give him time to process your idea. However, you must be careful to assess your market value realistically and not get carried away. Some indications for a feasible increase are the size of the company, the location, your qualifications and your work experience. A salary increase of between 3 and 10 percent is realistic, depending on the general conditions. An extra tip for salary negotiation is to fall back on crooked numbers. If you give a justifiable crooked figure, it’s better than simply saying you want €3,000 or 4% more a year. The justification you provide shows that you have thought about it and provides a tactical way to round it off.

No-go: Unrealistic ideas with salary jumps of 20 to 30 percent, no serious entrepreneur will go along with that.

Tip 3: Prepare The Salary Negotiation Argumentatively

Prepare both your arguments and the potential counter-arguments of your boss meticulously. Write down your arguments (special achievements, expanded scope of duties, outstanding knowledge and skills, your concrete contribution to the company’s success). Also write down what your boss can say to the contrary (poor economic situation, downplaying your performance) and think of valid responses that you can immediately use in the interview.

No-go: private arguments such as a higher need for money due to house building or similar.

Tip 4: Be Confident In The Salary Negotiation And Stay Calm

With self-confidence, you make it clear to your boss how big your personal contribution to the company’s success was. Surprise him positively and impress him. Your importance for the company also makes your entrepreneurial thinking clear to him. Such employees are what a boss wants. Nevertheless, your boss may become heated, smile mildly or make you a ridiculous counteroffer. In this case, calmness and objectivity are the top priority. If the salary negotiation threatens to fail, a new opportunity may arise. But if an agreement is reached, the negotiator with the greater calm usually has the better end for himself. Speak slowly and calmly and repeat your arguments.

No-go: Losing your composure and allowing yourself to be drawn into a private or emotional level of communication.

Tip 5: Act Tactically And Flexibly In Salary Negotiations

If you couldn’t place the first request, but your boss makes a first offer, don’t grab it right away. The good thing is that there is a willingness to increase your salary. Often there is still room for improvement, which you should explore. Your prepared arguments will help you here as well. A salary negotiation can also be used to discuss working conditions and other benefits. If there is no room for maneuver in terms of salary, what about more flexible working hours, home office, more vacation, and non-cash benefits such as public transport tickets or employee discounts? That, too, can increase the quality of life.

Tip 6: Correct Timing For Salary Negotiation

This tip seems a bit mundane, but you shouldn’t start salary negotiations at the Christmas party. Even if the mood at such a party is good, it is rather the mood regarding the company situation that is decisive. Use your successes and achievements of the company to place the desire for a salary negotiation. Allow some lead time. Specific occasions such as the end of the probationary period are also legitimate times for a salary review (perhaps not yet for a raise, but for formulating a perspective).

No-go: Open the door to a salary review.

Preparation Is everything

The salary negotiation tips presented all have something to do with preparation, both in terms of content, form and behavior. When you ask for a salary negotiation, feel free to paraphrase. You want to talk about the company situation and your personal growth, but the term “financial” is definitely not a taboo word. If you follow the tips above, the next salary negotiation won’t be a piece of cake, but the probability of success will increase significantly.