Negotiate...negotiate...learn and excercise the art of negotiation

I receieve a monthly newsletter that has very insightful information regards negotiation. I thought it would be doing a lot of people a favor to pass this information on, because this is where so many of us fail as we interview for a new job, a much deserved raise, etc. The author of the newsletters has indicated that there is no copyright infringement in passing the links along, so long as her contact info is kept in place.

What I have done is copied a section out of the current month's newlsetter for you to read. Then I have included a link to quite a few pdf files that are excerpts from previous newsletters. As well, I have provided a link to the author's website. You can subscribe for free...and it may be timely reading for some of you. Feel free to pass this on to everyone in your email address book. What will life be like if we all know how to negotiate what we want?

This past month, a letter from a business owner is being answered.  In it you will learn what a shock and surprise it was when a job candidate turned down this business owner's offer of employment when the candidate heard what the job was paying.

Have you ever interviewed for a job and were shocked when you heard the salary offer was much lower than you imagined it would be? Your response may also shock your potential employer!  That's because critical information was not revealed early enough in the interviewing process to prevent a major disconnect at the end. Even so, that's no excuse for being rude or precipitous in your response. 

Here is the business owner's letter, expressing concern about what occurred:

Recently I offered a job to a candidate I was very excited to have join my small but successful marketing company. She had the right experience, her references raved about her and my staff was enthusiastic about her becoming a part of our team. All signals indicated she would leap at the chance this opportunity would give her to achieve her career goals. That's why I was shocked when she looked so disappointed with the salary offer, which I thought was fair and commensurate with the position and with what she was currently earning. Apparently she had anticipated doubling her current salary and said so before leaving to discuss my offer with her husband and promising to let me know her final decision in a day or two. I never heard another word from her and curiously enough, if she had stood her ground I would have offered her, if not the full amount she wanted, a sizeable piece of it at least. What happend? How could I have changed the outcome?

-Frustrated in Los Angeles 

Handle Salary Issues Early in the Hiring Process:

Salary is one of those very important issues that can easily go wrong if it's not addressed early in the recruiting process. If you are a business owner who recruits infrequently, it's not surprising that you may not have thought to ask your candidate what she was currently earning or what she was looking for.  From the job seeker's point of view, it's always risky when asked to throw out a number in case it is either too high or too low. Too high and she risks losing a chance at a job she might really want despite the salary. Too low and she might be setting herself up for a very low offer or, even worse, presenting herself as less qualified or experienced than she really may be.

Here's what happened in this letter writer's situation. First, the business owner made an assumption that he knew what the candidate was presently earning and that he knew what that person wanted to earn.  He was wrong on both counts. The job seeker made an assumption too that this job she was so excited about paid more than it did.  But she made another mistake when she gave up the negotiation process at the first sign of trouble. She had power in that situation that she never used for once an employer makes an offer, all the power shifts to the candidate.  The company wants you, they just said so.  Now it comes down to what it will take to get you. If the salary game has been played out well on the front end, the offer will be somewhere close to what the candidate expects. But even if it isn't, that doesn't have to be the end of it.  It could just be the opening round. The important thing for both sides is to know what they want and be willing to continue the salary discussion until they both get as close as they can to their goal. This candidate made a third mistake, however, and one that is really the worst of all.  She never followed up with the business owner to complete the process of turning down the job.  That's just rude and she'll never know how that might come back to bite her later.  What if the company had another opening or re-evaluated the position and decided it was worth more.  Would you consider someone who did not keep her word before she was hired?

How do you handle money in real life?

You cannot go wrong in the salary process if you apply the same rules you use with money in other parts of your life. For example, you would never buy a car without knowing what you wanted to pay or before asking the price of the car you just fell in love with, would you? Nor would you necessarily pay the asking price. You would be prepared to negotiate just as the car salesperson is prepared for you to do. 

Follow these simple rules about money and you won't have a disconnect when you give or receive an offer.

• Assume nothing! Always confirm your understanding of what the other person wants.

• It's OK to ask!  That's right, go ahead and ask a candidate what his or her salary requirments are.  Candidates: Ask what the job pays. 

• It's OK to tell!  Get the salary issues out right at the beginning by clearly stating as ambiguously as you can what you want or what you will pay.  Ambiguously? I thought you just said that clarity is my friend.  Well, it is but too much clarity can be just as big a problem.  That's why I counsel job seeker clients to handle the salary question with a general response like this one a marketing director uses, "I earn a base salary plus a substantial year-end bonus that typically puts me in the mid-100s annually. On the employer's side, the response to a question regarding salary can sound something like, "The position pays in the low to mid fifties. Avoid saying the job pays "to $50K" or whatever the actual number is.  That's because when you introduce the highest number into the conversation, that is the number the other person will fixate on. Ambiguous answers are better and give the employer more wiggle room when an actual offer is made.  What you are going for here on either side of the equation is a reference point that helps you calibrate the relative chances for coming to a mutually agreeable number.

• Learn to negotiate.* You must have heard me say this a zillion times but negotiation skills are still one of your most important assets in building the career/business/life you really want.

• Never take less than you know you are worth unless you can accept it without resentment.  Telling an employer you will take less than you currently earn may seem like the right thing to do if you're desperate and could be fine but if you resent the offer you accept, then you will be dissatisfied as long as you are underearning in the job. It's better to turn the offer down than to let your attitude color your performance and create a losing situation for you and your new employer.

Knowledge is power! Getting salary issues out in the open early will eliminate misconceptions on both sides and make coming to a final agreement much more likely.

*Learn more about negotiating check out the authors site at: www.starmakercoaching.com . However, try a few of the links below before you go there. .

Articles by Mariette Edwards: [NOTE: A few of these links may not work]

• To Achieve Your Career Goals, Use the Power You Have
  
  
• To Be a Successful Negotiator, Start with What You Want
  
  
• Breaking the News
  
  
• Can You Hear Me Now?
  
  
• Confront the Myths that Hold You Back in Your Career
  
  
• Desperate Money Never Wins
  
  
• Determination is Not Enough
  
  
• Do YOU have The Bunny Inside?
  
  
• The Fear Factor
  
  
• Harnessing Trends
  
  
• How to Ask for What You Want
  
  
• How to Make the Most of a Networking Event
  
  
• How to Use Leverage to Negotiate
  
  
• Knowledge is Power! How to Leverage What You Know
  
  
• Life's a Pitch!
  
  
• Love is the New Currency in Today's Marketplace
  
  
• Manage Up to Manage Your Career
  
  
• Managing Client Relationships Means Managing the Gap
  
  
• The Myth of Networking
  
  
• Ouch! What Can You Do When Your Pitch Goes Wrong?
  
  
• Questions are the Answer to Building the Perfect Pitch
  
  
• Sell Results to Sell Yourself
  
  
• Should = No
  
  
• Sign Language
  
  
• Street Smart: Eight Ways to Raise Your Street I.Q.
  
  
• Surviving Unemployment
  
  
• Ten Questions to Ask on Your Interview
  
  
• Tooting Your Own Horn: How to Balance Healthy Self-Confidence with Shameless Self-Promotion
  
  
• What's the Buzz on YOU?
  
  
• Why Should I Hire You?