Sealing The Deal: The Salary Negotiation Endgame

After slogging through the interview process, you’ve received an offer and reached the end of the end game. You’re ever so close.

A company has made you a great job offer and you really want to work there, but as you review the deal points a few things make you hesitant. Whether it be the pillars of a typical compensation package –  salary, vacation time, health benefits, and retirement funds  – or other types of perks such as bonuses, the devil is not only in the details but in the negotiation over them.

This is not the time for recklessness – negotiations over salary are where many job offers tend to fall apart, and sealing the deal can be tricky. Here are some recommendations that may help you navigate this crucial final step:

1.    Take a deep breath. Then take an objective and emotionless look at the deal points that are the cause of your consternation. How would you rewrite them so that you would sign on the spot? For example, let’s say the issue is salary. You may feel the offer is too low – is it a knee-jerk reaction that you should get more, or have you done your homework and know empirically that you should get more? Have you done your research? Have you gone to payscale.com to gather market data? If you want to get additional compensation, quantifiable data from reputable sources can help you demonstrate that you should be paid at a higher level. “I want more” is not quantifiable data.

2.    Stay on target. If you want the job, and believe the compensation is near or within range, your goal is getting to a situation where you and the employer both agree to “Yes.” The pitfall here, unwitting or not, is turning a valid negotiation over a valid offer into a confrontation that suddenly slips out of control. Taking an adversarial approach or tone may place you in jeopardy of losing the offer altogether. Keep the mindset that agreeing on the terms of your employment is a collaboration with a common goal – “Yes.”

3.    Remember – the company wants to close the deal, too. Recruiting candidates and hiring new employees requires an enormous amount of time and effort. The company wants to make a deal. Nobody in the chain wants to start over. If you come to the table with reasonable arguments and viable solutions, the company should be receptive to the conversation.

4.    Call the person who made the offer. Once you have your strategy mapped out and your corroborating information at the ready, pick up the phone and call the person who extended the offer. Do not email. Do not text. Things get misconstrued in emails and texts. Do not leave a message saying you have “problems with the offer,” or other negative-sounding language. You’re close. So close. Don’t play games. Stick to your script.

5.    Try to understand the company’s compensation philosophy. They don’t know you from Adam or Eve. When you receive a company’s initial offer, it’s often a standard contract that matches their idea of how they pay their staff – they often have specific salary ranges for levels of skills and experience. Ask the recruiter how they arrived at the figure, understand their thinking, and then present your perspective.

6.    Negotiate strategically. There are many ways to prepare for a negotiation and if you have a tried-and-true method that works for you by all means stick with it. If you don’t, one simple and easy way is to structure your conversation into three parts.

• Share your excitement for the opportunity to join the company and your gratitude for the offer. 

• As concisely as possible, detail places in the offer where you believe there are gaps. articulate the reasons for your positions and present quantifiable data to back up your assertions. And if you’re willing to trade certain aspects of the offer (such as being willing to forgo additional salary in exchange for more paid time off).

•  Reiterate how much you want the position, demonstrate gratitude for his or her help, and strive to leave him or her with the impression that you would be a great person with whom to work. And close with an incentive – if they can meet your request, share that you’re willing to sign on the dotted line.

7.    Know when the end of the endgame is over.  Once you’ve laid out the details of your position on sticking points, it’s the company’s turn to counter-offer. Be aware that if the counter-offer fully addresses your concerns and meets you all the way, you will be expected to accept (doing otherwise would demonstrate bad faith). Don’t overstay your welcome. If the counter-offer still has a deal-breaker or two, there is wriggle room for one more try. But once it’s over, it’s over, and you’ll have to decide whether to accept or walk away.

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.