Easy Negotiation Techniques

Wrong Timing – The Perfect Way to Ruin a Salary Negotiation

When an employee shall negotiate the salary, careful preparations and use of proven techniques at the negotiation table are keys to success. However, no matter how well prepared or skilled in negotiations the employee is: if the timing is wrong, the employee will fail. The employee must wait for the best moment to start discussing actual figures with the employer.

The salary is the price for labor. The employee is selling himself and his labor to the employer. The employee must think as any salesman thinks. When does a car sales man bring up the price when selling a car? Does he start out by saying: “Over here I have a car for $30,000. It is a Ford…”? Of course not! A car salesman starts to talk about the car, praises its advantages over other cars, convinces the customer that this particular car will fulfill the customer’s needs. Only then, when the customer is already convinced that this is the car he needs, does the car sales man want to discuss price.

The employee must try to do the same thing in the salary negotiation. He must avoid the employer’s question about the salary as long as it takes to convince the employer that this particular employee is what the employer is looking for. The employee must take his time to sell himself first. First, he must make the employer really, really interested. He must make the employer realize for himself that this employee is the perfect wo/man for the job.

Then, and only then, shall he name his price.

David Hill is a business lawyer and professional negotiator. He provides employees and employees-to-be with professional advice on how to negotiate a salary in his book The “Negotiate Your Salary Like A Pro!” and on his blog