Positive leverage – what you are bringing to them to make them better. Are there items besides salary that you would mutually benefit from you getting because it would make you do your job better (e.g., external training, conference travel, new laptop, cable modem expenses). Could you offer to take on another responsibility to justify an increase?

Normative leverage – what’s “fair” given the market data. If you have evidence that you are not being offered pay at market levels, they may have an interest increasing your salary to prevent you from looking at other alternatives in the future (note – you do not suggest that you will be doing this, but you can say that in your research, which you have organized and able to share with them, the offered salary is below similar positions in your industry/region and you wanted to see if they could match those levels).

The whole time you keep a positive and enthusiastic tone about your new role (this is not a context where you should use negative leverage – e.g., threaten to walk away). If you ask for something reasonable and they say no, then you say you thought it was worth asking and take the job with a smile. If being rejected is going to color your view of the job, then it may not be worth asking.

My husband had a lateral move and got a $5k increase in salary and grade upgrade because he was a high performer and offered to do some extra responsibilities his boss hated doing. Both sides knew he wouldn’t walk away, but both sides also had a vested relationship and wanted him to get ‘fair’ compensation for the long-term.

Your choice. I don’t know your job situation so can’t advise anymore than that. My advice was coming from the assumption that you intended to negotiate. Sorry if I misread that.

Good luck – if not negotiating then in your future position.

I don’t really have an alternative to taking the higher paying position. Not having any alternatives is not good for negotiating. I lose the upper hand because I can’t walk away and go with another company/etc. My only option would be to stay at my current position, which would be pretty stupid.

I know what you mean.

Being a “world’s greatest negotiator” does not require negotiating everything, much as being “world’s greatest boxer” doesn’t require turning every interaction into a brawl.

If you are in a company that has grade levels, definitely try to move up one (or more!) for it to really work out as a promotion. There are often considerable benefit increases, and it opens up the high end of the salary range for the future.

Mostly, don’t be afraid to ask, but also make sure you are going in with arguments about what you bring to the company/role and what the market values, not what money you need to buy a house, car, etc.

good luck!

Jenn

I finally informed him that he should find another developer. I feel sorry for them, whoever they are.

However, I think that it’s harder to negotiate during this scenario as opposed to when you are interviewing for a new job/company. Does anyone have any good tips?

Thanks a ton!

The last thing we need in our government is everyone to agree. Agree on what? Have you ever studied the American Revolution? The founders of our nation had some very strong disagreements and debates out of which our nation was formed. That has been the state of our nation from the beginning and it always will be that way unless (God forbid) we do end up giving ulitmate power to one party or one man.

Also,
SO TRUE: “Instead, it’s adversarial, and we end up with a government that’s lose-lose for everyone. (This problem is just exacerbated by the idiots on radio and TV who insist on stirring the pot.”

Great post

John DeFlumeri Jr

I have had to defend this a number of times in sales. When training salespeople we would always go through this. A seasoned buyer would often use this technique to get sales people to cough up a discount. I have seen it happen dozens of time while sitting quietly and letting salespeople react to it. The best one’s will don’t take the bait. It’s very uncomfortable, but when you know it is a technique, you are less likely to be taken by it.

If your company is large enough to have a negotiation trainer, it pays to show up to that training. We used a guy that paid for himself in less than a week in cost savings to the company.

Important post.

This is powerful stuff! You can negotiate everything. It is a skill that I am yet to master, but I know that my dad has mastered it completely.

Somehow he is able to drop the price by as much as 50% in some cases. It’s fantastic! He definitely uses many of the techniques described here.

Funny things is that he tries negotiate absolutely everything: jewelry, tires, computers, cell phones, cars, TVs and so on.

I am sure he has saved a ton of money by doing that. Seems like most people do not even care to negotiate because most of them are not aware of that it is possible at all!

But just like this article has showed, negotiating is powerful in any situation. The thing that I liked the most about this article is that it mentioned win-win situations. Too many people focus on getting their way no matter what.

If we all focused on win win situations, we would live in a truly rich society.

Thank you for sharing!

Best,
Tomas

The BATNA concept is very useful when trying to strike a win-win agreement. I personally think that knowing my BATNA helps me being cool-headed in the midst of a hot, complicated negotiation.

You truly can negotiate anything. I have been able to get some great rates on cell phones, cable, internet. You can even walk into a department store and make an offer. Worst they can say is no.

Has anyone ever tried the “honey I’ll do this is you do that” approach. This can work on more than dishes, lol.

Negotiation by Lewicki, Barry and Saunders was the book we used in my MBA negotiations class. It’s $90 or $100 but the book is amazing and more than worth the cost. I’ve both earned and saved thousands of dollars using the techniques learned.

A less expensive option is Getting to Yes by Fisher.

One crucial thing missing from the article combines the Power and Time variables. Always know your BATNA before you start the negotiations! If you don’t know your BATNA you need to do more information gathering and assessing of your situation before even thinking about talking dollars and cents, or whatever you happen to be negotiating if it is non-monetary.

Ask For It is the practical guide, with “negotiation gym” exercises to help you get comfortable negotiating. Women Don’t Ask is an excellent and highly readable analysis of why and how women sometimes struggle with negotiation.

As KS indicated, they don’t go for the simplistic solution of telling women to just be tougher. They discuss how to deal with the special problems that women can face, including the fact that some people react negatively to negotiating with a woman.

They also note that many women have a natural tendency towards cooperative, win-win negotiation — and that’s a good thing. It’s a strong, creative, flexible style of negotiation, as discussed in this post.

IMHO typically the government doing nothing and letting citizens work things out themselves is the best course of action, but politicians and bureaucrats feel the need to justify their existence. Hence our tax codes and endless forms in order to do anything.

Yeah, sometimes people grandstand and hold things up for the sake of the spotlight, but in a political context what’s wrong with conflict? Seriously. No one gets hurt. No one walks away crying. Let em duke it out.

Another key component in effective negotiation is being aware of some of the persuasive tools others may use. Dr. Robert Cialdini’s earlier books on the psychology of persuasion are also a great resource. Being aware of these tactics often renders them useless against you.

I know you’ve written before about the influence of marketers trying to part us with our hard earned money. You might revisit the concept in a few posts based on Cialdini.

Thanks!

s.c.

Just because you want something from someone doesn’t mean they’re your enemy or your prey. Surely there is something you can give them that will make them equally happy without resorting to dirty means.

The Art of Negotiation – Free hour-long podcast on effective negotiating.

Stan Christensen also preaches win-win, but goes even further into the human relationship side of negotiation with simple, practical tips. How to not only get what you want while giving them what they want, but building a positive foundation for improved future negotiations (you’ll rarely “never see them again”). He uses insightful real-life examples he was involved with.

Hope you find it useful. It’s been eye-opening for me regarding negotiations.

Best,
Oleg