Salary Negotiation. Pt. 4

Welcome to Leadership Sovereignty the Podcast. I'm your host Terry Baylor along with Ralph Owens. And today we'll discuss how successful negotiation includes compromise, how money is not everything, how reciprocity plays a key role in successful negotiations and your salary is just one part of the overall compensation. Enjoy the show.

I think that was important point that you made too Terry is that successful negotiation almost always includes compromise. Successful negotiation is not you get all your way and the other person doesn't get their way. That's not successful negotiation. Successful negotiation includes compromise. So you have to, as we used to say, come in the meeting with some low hanging fruit that you're willing to sacrifice.

Right? So if you know that, the dollar is going to be the sticking point then okay to Terry's point, you know, may give up $5,000 so I can have a hybrid work schedule. Right? Because that time and not being on the road and all those other things being able to have more time with your family may be worth that. But you gotta always come into the negotiation identifying what compromises you really didn't give up.

They need to be ready because if you get into a situation where you happen to make a compromise on the spot, you may make an emotional decision that you may regret later, which is why you wanna think through, okay, these are the things that I'm willing to give up. I mean, I've gone as far as to go into the meeting while in negotiations, be the first one to give up my compromises because I don't want you to ask me to compromise some I mean, something to give up something that I really, really want. So I'm gonna put it out there first for you to take and see how well you do with that. And you may think, you know what? This person's really giving up something.

Let me give up something too because a law well, I won't call it a law, but, typically, typically humans, humans, when when somebody somebody gives you something, you feel the need to give something back. Right? You know? So by offering up something on the table that you are willing to go without, right, it it, it what is it? Reciprocity?

I believe that's the right word?

I believe so.

Yeah. Yeah. People will want to get back to you too. So, successful negotiation often includes compromise.

But Hey, Ralph. I'm beyond Hey, you just helped me. I'm gonna start giving some stuff up first. Hey, look, you know what? Okay.

I'll do. I'll do that.

You think about it, if you're the first one to put it on the table. Right. And now they're not asking for something that you really want. You dictate what you're giving up. Yes.

Right. But you got to come through the door already knowing what that is. Right? Because, again, because I've been in these situations. When you're in the back and forth in the moment and your emotions start getting high, it's it's a little bit harder to think rationally and you may wind up giving up something that you regret later.

And and so so here's here's here's something here again, real life scenario. Right? We learn these lessons. Another piece I wanna put into it as well well, you actually you know what? Let's just go to the next part.

So common negotiation mistakes. And I'll start with this one. Never negotiate a salary based on what somebody else makes. This is who I've learned this so many times, You know, you get in and you negotiate in your salary, and then you find out that the guy next to you makes, I don't know, $10,000 more than you do. That is a trap.

You go in and negotiate what's best for you. It doesn't matter what somebody else's makes. Even if they do the same work it does not matter. The reason why is because if you if you value, what you do at work based on what somebody else makes you'll never make enough money. This is why you have to be very, clear with yourself and your family on what is it that we need to make that do I need to make that's good for us.

This way you never have any regrets. Right? If you wind up finding out that somebody makes a little bit more than you, you may find out somebody makes a little bit less than you. All of that has to do with how well you negotiate your seat. Right?

Any thoughts on that, Tear?

Yeah, I'm a help him man, don't covet. I'm a help you. I'm a senior to Proverbs at the end of this, but at the end of the day, look, let your neighbor's stuff be their stuff.

That's right.

I mean, at the end of the day, because you know, I've heard it say, man, stop chasing the Joneses. Right? You just it is a trap.

It's a trap. It's trap. It's a trap. Don't get mad at yourself because they were able to negotiate better than you were. Do your own work negotiate the best situation for you.

Right.

You know, so let me share another anecdotal situation. Someone was sharing. So was what's amazing about this is over the last three months or so, I've had folks reach out to me about negotiations. And so one of the persons, man, I'd never heard this technique, but it was brilliant. It was brilliant.

So this was early on. Right. So typically today what happens is H. R. Call you.

Right. And so they have H. R. Kind of screen you and see if you're fit and just kind of follow-up on the items that you have in your resume and application. Well, in this particular scenario, the HR representative had asked individual, well, what are you looking for salary wise?

And I just love the answer the person came back with because the person told me they had a number. Right. They had a number and they didn't really want to give their number. So this individual said, well, what's the budget for the opportunity? Right.

What do you guys have budgeted? The HR person, right. Because this is a great person to ask those kinds of questions to because their whole goal and you got to understand what HR's goal is. The more right people they get in those seats, then they look better. So they're eager to give you as much information as you can, as they can, so you can, you know, be eager about the opportunity.

The person shared, oh, here's the here's the salary range for it. Boom, boom. Threw out a couple of numbers. The person was like, oh, I'm so glad I didn't throw my number out. I was 20 k short.

Yeah. That's a a, that's a unique situation there. Because the ones I work with, they're not giving you no range because they want to get you as low as they can. Yeah. Right.

So they expecting you to either come in already knowing or they're set that they're gonna set the anchor for you. Yeah. So

in that scenario, right? It was a again, what you don't ask, you can't get. So in the space there's no I will say this, right. You can add, you know, I got a basic philosophy. You can ask whatever you want as long as it's done in honor.

You ask the question the right way. I thought I'd never used that technique before, but I'm definitely going to see if it works.

Yeah, I try to. They're to give it to you.

Yeah. I thought that was interesting. I thought that was interesting. But yeah, I got one more anecdotal, but I'll wait to share that one down into the down into the lesson.

Okay. And so so another common mistake then when I hear you saying this, you don't know what you don't ask. So ask ask to give you the number.

Yeah. Again, I'm gonna take you to the Bible. You have not.

You asked That's it. That's it. Another so so, another point on common mistakes, and this is going back to something that Terry talked about with the BATNA, focusing solely on that salary. So just wanna touch on that one more time. Yep.

Right? Salary is not everything when it comes to compensation. Right? I've I've had a few people in my current organization who have left and they're younger. And, you know, I was telling somebody, I said, I remember when I was that young, the age that they're at, we talk about like 25, 26, two young kids.

Right. If you offered me $10,000 that'd be like offering me a $100,000 today. Right. Because, know, finances are tight, you know, things of that nature. Everything is driven by money, Yeah.

You know, for them. But I was, I was giving one some, some advice and I said, you know, just keep in mind that money is not everything. There are things like, do you have to go into the office every day to your point, hybrid work schedule? Do you pay bonuses? Right?

Because your salary may be x right but you may not know that they'll give you a 20% bonus so now you got 20% on top of

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