Salary negotiation tips: how to ask for what you’re worth

Maybe you’re looking for a salary increase at your current job. Or you might be considering a job offer for a brand-new one. Either way, knowing your worth is important. However, getting paid what you’re worth is essential. Especially when research shows salary directly affects our health-related quality of life. 

As it turns out, most employees and job seekers have a decent sense of their own value. But far too many are simply afraid to ask for, and negotiate, a raise or higher starting salary.

But this doesn’t need to be the case. There are strategic things everyone can do to improve their ability to negotiate what they’re worth. Learning some salary negotiation tips can set you up for professional success.  

First things first: should you negotiate your salary?

Employing negotiation tactics may not be advisable for entry-level and public-sector jobs, unionized roles, or if you’re applying for highly competitive roles.

Otherwise, yes, you should try to negotiate your pay. Even if your employer says no, the process can help teach you how to negotiate and let your employer know you’re interested in higher compensation.

In fact, posted salary ranges are often between the 25th and 75th percentile of what companies are willing to pay, demonstrating room for negotiation. That’s important when you consider how your starting salary can affect future earning potential.

If you accept a base salary of $62,000 annually with a 1% raise every year for 10 years, you’ll earn $648,657 in total. But when you negotiate a job offer for an extra 5%, you start at $65,100. Over 10 years, you’ll earn $681,090. That’s a difference of $32,433 over 10 years, which is not an insignificant amount. 

No matter your situation, knowing how to negotiate a salary can help your pay keep pace with your professional development.

What’s a salary negotiation?

A salary negotiation is a conversation in which you and your employer (or potential employer) sit down and discuss how much you should be paid. This can happen before you accept an employment offer, or after you’ve been working somewhere for a few months and are ready for a raise or merit increase.

There’s always a chance you work for someone whose positive leadership qualities and characteristics will make the negotiation process simple, straightforward, and even enjoyable. If that’s not the case, knowing how to use negotiation strategies and skills can bolster your confidence.

Your skill set, your experience, and market standards will all come into play during the negotiation. It’s reasonable to expect that you and your current boss or the hiring manager will go back and forth before you agree on a number. 

Preparing to negotiate: how to set yourself up for success

When preparing to negotiate your salary, here are some effective strategies to research market rates, identify a salary range, quantify your value, and practice your pitch.

1. Research market rates

Begin by working to understand approximately what current market rates and average salary are relative to what you’ll be asking for. To do so, take advantage of at least a few of the many workforce-related resources and job search sites online, like PayScale, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Salary.com. The more data you can gather providing context for why you should get a raise, the better off you are. 

Ideally, don’t rely on one source for all your information. While most resources are trying to answer the same questions for their users, they may use different data sets and methodologies to do so.

By using multiple sources, you’ll be able to:

• Gain a more comprehensive understanding of current market rates 
• Gather more trustworthy information thanks to cross-verification
• Discover different industry-specific insights

As part of your research, search for the best job posting sites for employers and employees. Cross-reference roles comparable to yours and note what salaries they advertise. Consult industry reports and surveys typically published by recruiting firms and trade associations. You can also tap into your professional network and ask peers in similar roles about typical compensation ranges. These sources may also provide insights on professional development goals and specific industry information.

A range is what you’re looking for rather than a specific number. With a range in mind, you’ve better accounted for market variations. You give yourself more flexibility during the negotiation itself, as benefit packages often need to be factored in. And most employers think in ranges as well.

2. Know your market value

It’s important to know your value in the job market, and that this is different from knowing you deserve a new job or higher pay. A vital part of any work or salary negotiation process is being able to demonstrate (i.e., quantify) your value. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this effectively.

• Track key wins and metrics that illustrate the impact you have at work. These may include projects you’ve helped deliver, costs you’ve reduced, revenue you’ve generated, or processes you improved. The more hard numbers you’re prepared to discuss, the better. Additionally, make sure you clarify goals versus objectives and how the former played a role in driving your success.
• Be ready to talk about your experience. This includes examples of personal achievements, certifications, and positive performance reviews. Get feedback from current and past managers regarding your top contributions. Compare your experience, education, and skills with those in your target salary range.
• Pull all this information together and condense it into a “brag sheet.” This handy distillation of your key wins and metrics makes for clear and concise evidence to reference during interviews and salary negotiations.

Ultimately, this work pays off over time. It’s much easier to add future accomplishments and performance metrics to an existing brag sheet. And it prevents you from having to start from scratch every time you’ve invested time and energy in your career growth.

3. Practice your pitch

Chances are good that you won’t be able to predict exactly how the salary negotiation process will go. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice. In fact, it’s all the more reason to. 

Practice will help you take all the excellent information you’ve compiled in your brag sheet and refine it into a series of key points:

• By practicing you learn how to articulate your requests and feel comfortable doing so. Both are crucial skills for all successful negotiations. 
• Practice makes you more confident and adaptable in the moment. This matters because things never go exactly as planned. Practice also helps you take your body language and voice into account. 
• By rehearsing different potential objections and outcomes you enhance your ability to respond while negotiating.

And, as much as possible, make sure to practice with other people: 

• Go over your talking points out loud to see what it might sound like in the interview. Also, reference personal values examples to make sure what you’re saying honestly reflects who you are as a person.
• Recruit a friend or family member and ask them to help you conduct a mock interview or two. At the very least, record yourself while acting as if someone’s there. 
• Ask any volunteers to pose tough questions, similar to those you may be asked.

At first, just get used to running through all your talking points. Leverage visualization, seeing yourself in your mind’s eye highlighting all your qualifications, accomplishments, and the value you provide. Try out different ways of responding to objections or pushback you may face. Once you have your talking points firmly in mind, you can refine your pitch to sound clear and confident.

Don’t feel you need to use every moment leading up to the actual negotiation to practice. Aim to become consistent and fluid. Soon, you’ll be ready for the big day.

Navigating the conversation: salary negotiation tips to make the most of the moment

When it’s time for all your practice to pay off, three simple salary negotiation tips will increase your chances of success. These tips involve confidence, positivity, and grace, respectively.

Act with confidence

Before the conversation begins, remember this is just business. At the end of the day, a negotiation is merely a transaction with both parties working toward a mutually beneficial outcome. You’re bringing value, skill, and unique experiences to the table to help make that happen.

Keep visualizing this negotiation going incredibly well. Employ power poses, which are ways you act and speak that communicate as much as what you’re saying. Stand or sit up straight and keep your shoulders back. This helps convey your confidence. Natural eye contact is also a good thing, as it also conveys confidence along with sincerity.

When the other party is speaking, use best practices relating to the importance of listening in the digital era. Doing so shows you’re open and engaged with their opinion and perspective. Also, try to repeat the main points you hear back to the person you’re negotiating with. This shows you’re paying attention. Used with clarifying questions, this external feedback loop encourages the other party to stay engaged with you.

Maintain positive framing

Lead the negotiation with gratitude. Tell the other party you appreciate their time and effort. Thankfulness generates positive feelings that can contribute to productive negotiations. Be enthusiastic and let your passion shine through.

State your value proposition with a clear strategy, like the 7-38-55 rule of communication. Be clear about what you’re asking for and why. Doing so minimizes the chances of misunderstandings and shows you know your worth.

Keep focused on your strengths and how meeting your salary expectations will benefit the employer. This keeps your interests aligned with your employer’s goals.

Handle all objections gracefully

Data and information gathered during your research will help mitigate potential objections. But even an employer who fully agrees with and supports you may still offer some pushback. Doing so ensures they’re doing their own job well (i.e., managing budgets responsibly).

So, work to ground yourself during the negotiation. Stay calm and composed when the other party does object or push back. As silly as it might sound, remember to breathe. While breathing, make sure that you are actively listening to each objection. Then, acknowledge each one. You don’t need to agree, but taking a moment to acknowledge what’s being said validates the employer’s viewpoint. Doing so can also defuse tension.

Once any objections are acknowledged, pivot. Transition back to discussing your strengths, certifications, years of experience, skills, and accomplishments. Leverage compelling data, relevant examples, and provide solutions. Proactively employ problem-solving strategies. Offer alternatives that can meet both your needs and the employer’s constraints.

If it turns out that what you’re asking for is nonnegotiable, consider proposing a counteroffer instead of ending the salary negotiation. Suggest other forms of compensation you’d value, like bonuses, stock options, a signing bonus (if applicable), additional vacation days, the ability to work from home, perks, or professional development opportunities.

Bottom line: Even if your offer is turned down, or you opt to walk away, you’ve gained valuable experience. Every negotiation provides practical knowledge to apply in future job interviews or when you negotiate a salary offer.

Securing your best outcome: closing the deal in just 3 steps

On the other hand, if your salary negotiation succeeds, you aren’t quite done. There are three important things to do to secure the best outcome.

1. Clarify what’s being agreed to

In the rush that follows a successful negotiation, it’s easy to forget that the details may not all be clear. Alternatively, all parties may not be completely aligned on what’s being agreed to. Therefore, it’s important that you both summarize the agreement verbally and, ideally, get it all in writing. Neither need to be complicated.

For a verbal summary, simply repeat what you’ve understood regarding the salary negotiation before the meeting ends.

Example: “OK, so just to confirm, we’ve agreed my salary will be $85,000 per year and my vacation days will increase from 15 to 20, correct?”

Additionally, request a formal, written letter or email outlining all the terms agreed on during the negotiation.

The resulting clarity helps you ensure there is no misunderstanding about the agreement while preventing future disputes or confusion.

2. Review the offer in its entirety

Things get a bit more complicated when a newly negotiated salary is part of an overall compensation package. With the information confirmed from step one, you can review an offer holistically. Only by understanding its total value can you make the informed decision to accept it, or not.

Review all benefits (a checklist can be helpful here), including health insurance, bonuses, stock options, retirement contributions, etc. Then, review unique employee benefits, nonmonetary perks like vacation time, remote work plans and scheduling details, or professional development opportunities. Also, make sure to compare whether the overall package is in line with industry standards.

3. Express gratitude while confirming the details

The need to confirm the details of your offer is an excellent opportunity to express gratitude. This demonstrates your own leadership and vision while helping to maintain positive relations with your employer.

In most cases here, less is probably more. Write a thank-you email reiterating your passion and enthusiasm for the role, then summarize the agreed-upon terms.

Again, this creates an additional record showing all parties are aligned and there are no misunderstandings. So be specific, not just succinct. Clearly outline all agreed-upon terms, sign off, hit send, then go celebrate.

Salary negotiation tips: research, rationalize, repeat

Hearing “no” isn’t the end of your salary discussion. It’s the beginning.

The bottom line is the things that make up a personal value statement, along with your skills, qualifications, and experience, make you a valuable asset to any company. These salary negotiation tips can help you convert these qualities into a compensation package that reflects your worth.

Ready to negotiate the next step in your professional experience? Partner with a BetterUp Coach to make the most of every moment spent earning what you deserve.