Many people find negotiations nerve-wracking, but they’re absolutely necessary if you want to command the salary you deserve. Don’t expect your boss to offer more money unprompted. If you believe your work is worth more than you’re getting, it’s time to schedule a meeting to discuss what you need from the company.
You should never walk into a salary negotiation unprepared. Know what you’re asking for and why you believe you should get it. The best way to ask for a raise is with plenty of knowledge and preparation to back up your request.
Research your realistic potential
Before you start down the path toward asking for a raise, you need to understand what you’re realistically worth. You’ll get a hard no if you’re looking for a salary that’s dramatically outside of your industry’s standards. It’s important to walk into your negotiations with a strong foundation of evidence that shows what you’re asking for is entirely reasonable. If you do your research well, you can even prove your current salary is fundamentally unreasonable considering your position, location, and other factors.
- Gather salary data for your position and city: It’s not enough to know what the mean salary is for marketing assistants. You need to know what marketing assistants make in Philadelphia. Location plays a big role in the median earnings for a given profession, so make sure your research takes this into account.
- Evaluate your company’s financial standing: If your company is staring bankruptcy in the face, it’s unlikely you’ll make a successful case for why they should pay you more. However, if you know your company just finished an outstanding fiscal year, you’re in a good position to argue that you should see some of the payback for the business’s success.
- Understand the demand in your field: If you’re in a high-demand occupation, you could successfully ask for a raise of three percent or more. If the market is flooded with applicants who have your exact qualifications, you should stay under the three percent mark and put more emphasis on your experience within and knowledge of the company when you argue your worth.
- Know the cost of living in your area: Cost of living calculators abound on the internet and will tell you how expensive it is to handle standard living expenses in your area. If the cost of living in your city is 20 percent higher than the national average, you can better argue for a salary that’s 20 percent higher than your occupation’s national average as well.
Know your worth
Industry averages are a good starting point when you’re negotiating a raise, but you should also evaluate your individual worth. Not all accountants are created equal. If you’re one of the best professionals in your field, you can command more for your services. Just make sure you can back this statement up.
- Quantify what you’ve contributed: Have you personally landed 15 percent of the company’s new clients in the last year? Did your software patch save the company thousands in development costs? Put a number on your contributions anywhere you can.
- Detail your role and responsibilities: Spend a week or two listing everything you do, then compare this to your job description. Are you effectively performing the role of two separate employees? Have your responsibilities expanded far beyond what you were originally hired to take care of? If you can prove you’re doing more work than before, you can also negotiate for a higher salary than what you were hired at.
Choose your asking points
Know what benefits you’re after before you walk into your salary negotiations. Have an idea of the minimum you’ll accept as well as the maximum you believe you deserve. Never reveal your minimum during your negotiations or you’ll never land a penny more. Simply keep this in your head so you know what you can count as a personal win.
When you’re asking your boss for a raise, you should consider more than just money. There are other benefits that carry as much value as a monetary raise. In addition to a higher paycheck, you may also want to negotiate for more paid time off, educational reimbursement for your night classes, or other benefits.
Don’t hesitate to get creative with this stage of your negotiations. If you telecommute from Texas to work for a New York City company, perhaps you’ll ask for an allowance that will cover a private desk at a local co-working space, such as the luxurious Legacy West WeWork office in Plano. Some asking points to consider include:
- Salary
- Bonuses and incentives
- Benefits
- Company perks
Time your request
The best time to ask for a raise is after your annual performance review. This gives you powerful ammunition for demonstrating your worth to the company. If your manager just gave you a glowing review praising your accomplishments over the last year, he or she will have a harder time arguing that you’re not well-positioned for a raise.
If you can’t wait until the next performance review to ask for a raise, time your request to follow on the heels of a major success. Wait until you’ve turned in a value-packed report that’s going to help your company land a slew of new clients, or you’ve just presented your latest tech development that will streamline business activities throughout the company. You should always hold off until you’re in high favor to make your request. Your manager will be far less receptive to your request if you’re just coming off an extended vacation, returning from a run of sick days, or reporting the loss of a client.
Make an appointment
The best way to ask for a raise is to make a dedicated appointment with your boss for this purpose. Don’t bring up a raise unexpectedly during a quick drop-in, or broach the subject during a meeting that was designed to cover a different project. These negotiations deserve a dedicated time slot where you can put all your focus on the topic at hand. Your supervisor will take your request more seriously and give it more attention when you put it at the center of your conversation during a meeting you scheduled for just this purpose.
Stay on topic
When you’re asking your boss for a raise, you need to keep your focus on relevant matters. Topics such as your future with the company and the evolution of your professional role within the business are highly relevant. You should ask your boss what he or she sees for you in the coming years and use this information as leverage when you negotiate for more money.
You do not want to get caught up discussing the details of another project or reasons you’re unhappy with your current compensation. This isn’t the time or place to air your grievances with other employees or discuss inefficiencies in your department. Keep the focus on your position and your merits.
Watch out for common faux pas
It’s easy to lose your focus or let your demeanor slip when you’re addressing monetary issues. Many people have a great deal of trouble negotiating or pitching themselves as something of value. Practice your negotiations long before you sit down with your boss and watch for these common mistakes:
- Getting emotional
- Making complaints
- Setting an ultimatum
- Pitching without preparation
- Offering too much information
Ask a friend to role play with you and work through several different scenarios. Keep an eye out for these major mistakes and remedy them when they happen.
Get your agreement in writing
Now that you know how to negotiate a raise, you need to review what to do once the discussion is over. If your boss has agreed to a higher salary, you should immediately get the offer in writing. Without written documentation of your agreement, you have no way to prove to the human resources department that your paychecks should now be higher. Your meeting should conclude with a memo between yourself, your boss, and human resources that clearly states the new terms of your employment.
Negotiating a raise can be intimidating, but proper preparation will help you stand strong and make a compelling argument for why you deserve more for your job.
