Sam Owens 01:36
It does not increase its pricing by needing you to pay more milk. Doesn’t matter what milk needs or that milk needs the money or anything else, milk does not get a price increase because of reasons related to what milk wants. Milk gets a price increase by being valuable in the marketplace. So milk with additional benefits or features like protein or other minerals in it or something like that, or chocolate milk or something, milk that tastes better, milk that’s organic. All these things will command a higher price point because they’re adding additional value in the marketplace. And it is the same thing with us. And so it’s a helpful way to think about salary negotiations. What’s in it for them? Why should they give you a higher salary? So with that, lemme go into these 10 things, these kind of 10 laws here. First, the best time to negotiate your compensation is when you have an offer in writing.

Sam Owens 02:39
That’s when you have the most leverage. Any salary conversations beyond that are kind of hypothetical and don’t really matter. That is when also that they want you, if they’ve issued you an offer in writing, they know that they don’t want to lose you at this point. They’ve decided they want you to go there and you have an offer, and at this point, it’s their job now to lock it in. So that’s when you have the most leverage. Number two, any agreements, promises or statements about your salary not in writing should not be taken seriously. It’s all hypothetical. I remember I had a conversation after I took a job about salary and told the person that I wanted a higher salary, and he kind of gave me the whole, oh yeah, well, let’s see what we can do. And yeah, I mean, you have a lot of room for growth and yeah, there could be something when you get here.

Sam Owens 03:29
All that stuff went away. Once the deal was done, I got put on a project. I had a different boss from the recruiter who actually brought me in and it was completely forgotten. So unless it’s in writing, really it should not be taken seriously. Okay, number three, it’s best to be paid what you are worth, not a lot more or a lot less. An important point because many people believe that you should just get the biggest possible salary, but the marketplace is pretty efficient in the sense that if you’re paid way more than, and I’ve seen this happen, if you’re paid way more than you’re worth in the marketplace, you might feel like you’re getting away with murder at first, but eventually it catches up to you catch. And I’ve seen people under-prepared get laid off or just not get raises for a long time or whatever.

Sam Owens 04:22
Typically it’s like, look, get as much money as you can, but really what you’re trying to do is be paid fairly, maybe a little bit better than fairly, but you don’t want to be paid ridiculously, unfairly. If you are at first, that will likely catch up to you. At the same time, you don’t want to be vastly underpaid because that’s not going to work either. It really, both sides need to get a fair deal. Number four, compensation is about salary, but it’s also about a lot more things. And so if you’re running into friction or a stalemate when it comes to salary, think about all the other potential things, vacation bonus, other benefits, start time, whatever, flexibility, all those things are potentially on the table. Okay? Number five, companies are much more willing to negotiate if they believe you will accept the offer. So if this is a job you want, it’s much better to go into the negotiation saying, Hey, I’m really excited about this.

Sam Owens 05:16
I want to do this. Rather than like, well, I don’t know. Let’s see what you can do for me. Really, you’re negotiating in good faith. And if someone on the other side of the table can go back to their boss or their HR committee or whatever and say, Hey, this person, if we give this person this, I think this is a done deal. This person wants to work here. We want this person to work here. So I think you want to go in optimistic and negotiate in good faith. Number six, don’t underestimate the power of likability in negotiating. Negotiating does not have to be adversarial. You can be firm, but you can do it in the right way. Again, expressing how excited you are about the opportunity, and really, if they like you, they likely will give you what you want or at least be more likely to give you what you want.

Sam Owens 06:07
Okay, number seven, you likely won’t burn bridges by negotiating hard. Many of the people I work with are really nervous that if they negotiate that it’ll count as a point against them when they get to work and that the employer will remember it for months or years to come. This is almost never the case, especially at a big company. Once the negotiation is done, the deal signed, no one ever talks about it again, doesn’t matter. People want to move on. So you’re highly unlikely to burn bridges by really negotiating hard. There are some exceptions to this, really, really small companies or specific relationship based stuff, but any big company, don’t worry about negotiating hard. Okay? Number eight, knowledge is power. The more homework you do, understanding what the marketplace provides for a job like this, the more you can understand through informational interviewing or getting some sort of inside information from people, what this role pays, the better off you’re going to be.

Sam Owens 07:06 
So do your homework and get the knowledge. Number nine, a rushed deal is usually a bad deal for at least one party. Meaning if someone is trying to close you quickly, but you not totally comfortable, don’t succumb to the pressure. Make sure you feel good about it. And if they’re like, oh, I need to know by Friday, ask for the following Monday, ask for a little bit more time. If they really want you, they are more likely to give you that time. Highly likely to give you that time. And so don’t be rushed into a deal if you’re not super comfortable with all the terms, because usually you miss things in a rush deal. Okay? And number 10, is this question related to your current salary? Your current salary can be an asset to you or it can be a liability. So it just kind of depends.

Sam Owens 07:53
If you’re far enough along in your career where you can just straight up say, look, this is what I’m making right now, and so to leave, I need to be making at least this much more. And you can make it really simple for them. On the other hand, if you are getting a job where you’re getting a big pay bump, sometimes telling them your current salary might not be the best. And so in that regard, you’re going to want to focus on your current qualifications for the job and why you want the job. So that is up to you. That just depends. So those are the 10 rules. And really, as you prepare to negotiate your next offer, you want to identify exactly what you want, what your goals are, compensation wise, and also what you can live with, what do you want, and then what would you still take the job for?

Sam Owens 08:37
Number two is to prepare your ammo, your justification, and then you can kind of rehearse your pitch, your response, Hey, thanks so much for the offer. Here’s what I would like. And then you deliver your response through a live conversation with the person. Much better to have an actual conversation so they can understand the context and the intonation of your voice and hear your optimistic positive attitude than it is to really email. If I’m negotiating, I’m usually doing it over the phone, but then I’ll follow up with a summary of what we discussed, but I’ll always do it over the phone first. So that’s it. Best of luck in your future negotiations.