Negotiation is not just for securing the best job offer. Even when you’re employed, you negotiate raises, promotions and the scope of your day-to-day job all along your career. If you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer, you negotiate pricing, projects and deadlines. In day-to-day life, you negotiate boundaries with other people, terms when you buy or sell a house or car or you may negotiate for fun at the neighborhood yard sale.
You negotiate more often than you think and for more than just money. It’s very important to do this right. Yet, many people shy away from negotiating or even trying to learn how to negotiate. Don’t be one of those people that’s afraid to negotiate and therefore just takes whatever you’re offered. If you don’t ask, the answer is definitely No!
Instead, resolve to advocate for yourself and ask for what you want – and deserve. You can negotiate even if you’re faced with some of these common obstacles:
1 – Even when you hear No
Don’t panic at the first sign of pushback. Instead, get curious – ask for information, not agreement. Ask clarifying questions. Don’t push on your position. Focus on getting the other person to clarify what they mean by No, so you can figure out what you need to change to get to Yes. You may just need to change something small and not end the discussion altogether. Get creative with what you’re asking for. Maybe you just need to change timing – for example, if you ask for a 10% raise and hear No, you may be able to convince your manager to agree to 5% now and 5% later.
2 – Even when the other person has no money
You ask for a raise, and your manager, not only says No, but adds that they have no money. Well, if the company isn’t bankrupt and shutting down right then and there, then they do have money – just not for your request. Remember tip 1, and get curious about why. It could be that your manager just doesn’t have authority over the budget – therefore, who can you ask? It could be that the budget for raises is all used up – can you pull from another source, say the bonus pool? It could be that there is a salary ceiling they can’t broach – is there another way you can get more beyond your base, such as a performance bonus or company stock?
3 – Even if you’re a freelancer or solopreneur up against a bigger party
But what if you’re a freelancer and not an in-house employee, so you can’t appeal to HR or to other company pools of money? You still have negotiation leverage as a freelancer or small business owner, even if your client is a much bigger company. If a lower amount is offered, size your work output accordingly, and charge more as they ask for more. Negotiate for volume – give them a discount on this project if you’re guaranteed additional work. Pitch a bigger project that can warrant a bigger fee, or perhaps cut across multiple departments who can all pitch in to cover the bigger fee. The point is to play around with how you’re defining the scope of work so you have, not just pricing, but all aspects of a project as levers to negotiate and change. See more examples of how to negotiate as a freelancer in 7 levers to negotiate as a temp or freelancer.
4 – Even if you’re worried about the other relationship
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or employee, you may feel uncomfortable about negotiating because you’re worried it may harm the relationship. Negotiating is about going back and forth, but that doesn’t have to be done in a hostile way. Not all conflict is mean-spirited! Emphasize points of agreement in your discussion – you might disagree on the price, but you both want to work together. Focus on win-win – the company may balk at paying a higher rate or giving you a raise, but you focus on how much more you’re delivering. Listen more than you speak – engender rapport and goodwill by repeating back what the other person is saying so they know you’re not just digging into your position but also hearing them out.
5 – Even if you’re asking for something unquantifiable, like flexibility or fairness
Listening, focusing on win-win, emphasizing agreement, asking clarifying questions and getting creative beyond your initial request are negotiating tips that work for a variety of requests, not just asking for more money. You might want to ask for flexibility at work or more time to decide on a job offer. Even a straightforward job offer isn’t just a quantifiable negotiation because there are many non-monetary factors you can negotiate. You negotiate what you do day-to-day, your title, how you spend your time (i.e., work schedule), your environment (including resources, like staff). Just because the issue at hand is not money, price or something else quantifiable doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply negotiation strategy and skill to your request.
6 – Even if you accepted a lesser offer already
What if you’re reading this post too late, and you already accepted a job offer or you’ve been at your job for a long time and only now are realizing that you are underpaid? The best time to negotiate is at the start of something or when there’s new information to introduce. A new job offer is an example of both – you’re starting with a new employer, and you both are getting to know each other. This is what makes a job offer the best time to negotiate salary, benefits, scope of the role and resources. However, you’re always learning new information, so depending on how disruptive the information is, that could be the perfect opening to restart a negotiation. For example, you quoted a lower salary expectation than you now want because the scope of the job is much bigger than you estimated. Well, you don’t have to remain beholden to what you said – explain to the prospective employer that the job is different and therefore the terms have to be different. If you accepted a lower salary and then the job turns out differently than advertised, that’s new information and grounds for a new negotiation. If you have been on the job for a long time and learn that your salary has not kept up to market value, that’s also new information! (Here are four tips if you are underpaid)
7 – Even if you’re scared to ask for more
You can’t lose a job offer or your current job by asking for more. Companies respect good negotiators. They stand to lose, too. If you’re their first-choice candidate and you walk, now they have to start the search over or settle for someone less. If you’re a longtime employee and you walk, now they have to train someone new and make up for all your institutional history and experience.
You stand to lose more by not negotiating than by negotiating. If you make less money one year by not negotiating, that is compounded in every additional year’s raise, in every bonus that is calculated as a percentage of your lower, non-negotiated salary and in every future job offer that is based on a lower amount. You also lose confidence in yourself and practice with negotiating!
8 – Even when the other person always says No
By now, we’re 1,000+ words into the post, and I hope you’re excited for your next opportunity to negotiate. But what if you’re facing a curmudgeon – e.g., that manager who always says No? If it’s not about money but about process (e.g., you want to work a different schedule or change up your weekly report), you may not have to ask. Just make the change, and be prepared to ask for forgiveness if you get called out and negotiate the request at that point. But maybe, you won’t even have to.
Otherwise, make it in the curmudgeon’s best interest to say Yes – i.e., focus on what’s in it for them. Or, craft your position in such a way that they come to your conclusion but it’s their idea. For example, if more money can be tied to more sales or other performance improvement, brainstorm with your manager about improving the group. Ask a leading question around how to incentivize the group, not just you, to stretch for more. The discussion might lead to your manager deciding that a compensation restructure is the best solution. Or, appeal to their Hero complex, and ask for help. They may give you negotiation tips that you can turn around and use on them. Or, in their zeal to solve your problem (and be the hero) they may acquiesce to what you’re asking for.
9 – Even when you really need the job
Remember point #7 – negotiation will not cost you a job, so even if you’re scared, do it anyway. Your prospective employer doesn’t know that you really need this job (as a candidate, you are projecting confidence, not desperation, right?). So your prospective employer will not notice what you have to lose, but instead focus on what they might lose – a great candidate and all this time and effort already spent in vetting you. The other side is also not trying to take advantage of you (too many people assume negotiation is about conflict!). They don’t want to lowball you and then have a morale issue on their hands when you find out. As an absolute last resort, if you really can’t bring yourself to negotiate now, then resolve to negotiate later (review point #6!)
10 – Even if you think you have no leverage
Really needing a job (obstacle #9) is one example of not having leverage. You feel you can’t negotiate, and because you can’t walk away, the other side has all the power. In this case, having financial security would increase your leverage. Having another job offer in hand is another way to increase your leverage. Anything that gives you more confidence and capacity to stand your ground increases your leverage – e.g., a strong pipeline of leads to land a job quickly, a supportive network that could lead to jobs or at least consulting offers. Anything that could make the company want you more and therefore more readily say Yes to your requests is also leverage. This might be you having special expertise or skills that the company needs right away because the position you would fill is a high priority, and the company is losing money by the day.
Yes, you can negotiate
I hope all of these “even if” scenarios show you that you can and should negotiate. There isn’t a situation so problematic that you can’t solve. There isn’t a specific time or set of circumstances or type of counterparty that signals you can’t negotiate. Negotiation is about sorting out points of disagreement, so expect some pushback (otherwise you’d just agree, and there would be no need to negotiate in the first place!). Just remember that pushback isn’t necessarily bad, hostile or mean-spirited. Get curious, get creative and get what you deserve!
