Who are the best salary negotiators? This is the question that I was asked during the Q&A session of a recent talk I gave on how to capture attractive job opportunities. The person who asked me this question wanted to know if there is a certain type of personality that is more successful at negotiating salary? Is there a particular characteristic or quality that is common in good salary negotiators?
Actually, a good negotiator’s success isn’t rooted in a certain personality type or characteristic. In my 20+ years running a recruitment firm, I’ve seen many candidates approach salary negotiation situations with employers by being aggressive, clever, cool, calculating, indifferent, unpredictable, mysterious, etc. Some are successful. However, if they are dealing with top companies, most are not able to get what they ask for. These top companies are successful for a reason. Given how much experience they have negotiating with candidates, they’ve seen all kinds of negotiating personalities and tactics.
Instead, of the people I’ve seen who are the best negotiators, two keywords immediately come to mind. They are value and confidence. Actually, they’re quite related. The clearer you are about how much value you possess and can provide to the other party, the more confident you’ll be in your negotiations with them.
There’s a saying I’ve heard many times from employers that captures this thought. It’s, “We’ll pay for value.” Put simply, the more value the other side sees in you the stronger your negotiating position will be. The less value they see in you the weaker your negotiating position. When it comes to your value, there are three things that you want to particularly do well during your negotiation situation.
1) Recognize your value – Being a good negotiator begins with knowing what about you are unique and highly sought by others. For instance, if you’re a candidate being pursued by an employer, how difficult are your skill sets and capabilities to find in the market? Are your achievements outstanding or quite common compared to other candidates? And in particular, to what degree does what you have to offer responds to the critical needs and interests of the potential employer.
If your value is more exceptional and more critical to an employer, then you’re not going to feel as concerned that they’ll be able to easily find someone else like you. This gives you more leverage and confidence in your negotiation with them.
2) Communicate your value – Good negotiators know how to highlight and differentiate their value to other parties. Again, candidates who are good salary negotiators make sure that the potential employer knows that their capabilities and value are unique and exceptional. They give good examples that highlight their capabilities and shine a light on their achievements.
In addition, the best salary negotiators are able to reference their value in the market and for comparable job opportunities. They are knowledgeable about what they’re talking about. They don’t need to resort to bluffing or bragging. If you’re negotiating with mature, experienced people, this doesn’t come across as very sincere or professional. I’ve seen many situations where employers will even withdraw their offer because of the negative impression they get of candidates when they do this in the salary negotiation.
3) Value your value –Because they have a good sense of the value of their value, good negotiators don’t easily lower their price. They don’t give away what they possess for less than what they know its worth. For instance, good salary negotiators have the confidence to say, “This is what I’m looking for based on what I understand my value in the market to be.” They’re able to hold their ground and stay to their number.
Part of this has to do with their willingness to walk away from an opportunity if they are really not satisfied with the offer being presented to them. They know that, given their capabilities and experience, they can attract and capture other attractive opportunities as well. As one candidate put it, “When you have more than one offer in hand, it’s much easier to turn down the one that isn’t offering you what you’re asking for.”
Being a good negotiator is a lot about confidence. And that confidence is based on what kind of value you can offer others. So the greater the value you possess the better your chances of getting what you want. But if you don’t actually have that much value in the eyes of the other party, you’re not going to be very successful in your negotiations, no matter what you try or do.
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