The Four-Step Salary Negotiation Strategy Works!
BY ROBERT E. SIMMONS,
People at all Organizational Levels Use It With Success
Five O'Clock Club Career Counselor
As a career consultant working with laid-off defense workers during the past year, I have used the Five O'Clock Club's Four-Step Salary Negotiation Strategy with outstanding results for clients of all ages and at various organizational levels. Two notable examples are Bill, a 37-year-old Engineering Technician, and Ed, a 59-year-old Engineering Project Manager.
FOUR-STEP SALARY NEGOTIATION METHOD Technician Negotiates Pay to Desired $16.50 per Hour Bill wanted to relocate to Florida, targeting a large corporation there for a position in animatronics. He sent his letter and resume to the Head of Engineering, and received a call five days later from the Human Resources recruiter, who wanted to arrange an interview. But Bill was dismayed when the recruiter quoted a starting salary of $14 per hour. He felt he would need at least $16 per hour to maintain the same living standard he had in New York. I counseled Bill to respond by stating he would consider the offer, then to delay further salary discussion.
1. Negotiate the Job
2. Outshine and Outlast your Competition
3. Get the Offer
4. Negotiate the Compensation
I explained to Bill that the next step in the Club's Salary Negotiation Strategy was to build the job. Our goal was to create more responsibilities in order to raise him to the desired salary level. We began by focusing on the five requirements for the position and convincing the hiring authorities that he was a perfect fit. Bill was able to establish his qualifications during the first round of interviews. He confirmed these qualifications in follow-up letters that he sent to everyone he had met.
After Bill had completed negotiating the job, we focused on expanding it to eliminate the competition. Our strategy was for Bill to ask how he could enhance the contributions his position would make to the organization. To elicit more information, Bill asked the interviewers how he could make the immediate supervisor's life easier. The hiring supervisor answered that he would like the new technician to become a mentor to the younger technicians in the department. In addition, he would like the technician to perform some basic software programming.
Bill had experience in both areas. During the second round of interviews, Bill focused on these additional qualifications, convincing the hiring authorities that he had excellent capabilities in both. He reinforced his capabilities further in follow-up letters and thereby eliminated his competition!
Bill was offered the job at the original $14 per hour. By following the Club's Four-Step Method, Bill responded to the offer by pointing out that the job now had two added responsibilities, and that the salary offer should be adjusted accordingly. The company came back with an offer of $16.50 per hour. Bill accepted and is presently working as an Animatronics Control System Technician in Florida.
Executive Negotiates $85K Plus Perks
At age 59, Ed believed his career had not yet plateaued, and that higher level jobs were yet to come. But two downsizings over 13 months threw him into doubt. The first occurred after long tenure with a major defense manufacturer, where he had earned $72,000 per year. He moved to another position for $68,000 but it lasted only six months, when his entire department was eliminated.
Ed interviewed for the position of Engineering Manager with a high-tech company in Massachusetts. Our initial concern was that the position was not at the appropriate salary level. Using the Five O'Clock Club Salary Negotiation methodology, I counseled Ed first to find out the job requirements, then to establish his qualifications. I instructed him to avoid any premature salary discussions and to focus on finding out how to expand the job.
Ed met with three top officials of the company for a series of all-day interviews. He believed he met all the qualifications for the position, and was confident he had convinced the hiring officials. Ed saw they were interested in his ability to generate revenue. Since he had generated revenue in his most recent job, he was able to use this asset to expand the job. Ed reinforced all of his qualifications with follow-up letters.
The high-tech Massachusetts company offered Ed a position as Engineering Program Manager at $70,000 per year, with 30 days living accommodations for relocation purposes, $6,000 for relocation expenses, and three weeks' vacation. In my follow-up meeting with Ed, he described the offer as "light," and said that he needed a salary of $90,000 with better perks. Since there was a large discrepancy between the company's offer and Ed's desires, he requested and got a meeting with the three officials he had met initially.
Ed's goal for this meeting was to clarify what would be expected of him in the immediate future as well as on an ongoing basis. It was also to confirm the expansion of the job into responsibility for revenue generation.
In preparation for the meeting, Ed wrote a seven-page report in which he discussed the Program Management position responsibilities and expectations; business expansion and development responsibilities and expectations; previous and present compensation considerations; and a Business Development Plan. He requested and was granted an overhead projector for presenting the report.
Four days after Ed's follow-up meeting, the company's President called and revised the offer. He offered Ed $80,000 to start; 90 days living accommodations for relocation purposes, full relocation expenses, and three weeks' vacation. We countered the offer with a sales revenue compensation component, which could have brought the total package to in excess of $100,000. The President refused and Ed accepted the $80,000 package.
Next, Ed met with the President to clarify the specifics. The President stated that he knew the final compensation package was $10,000 below the figure Ed had requested, and that he wanted Ed to start with a very positive attitude. He then raised the starting salary to $85,000.
Ed's story doesn't end there! In December, 1996, Ed called to tell me he had been promoted to Vice President of Operations, with a six-figure salary. Bill is now 60 years old.
Although the positions that Bill and Ed targeted were at very different levels, they were both able to use the Five O'Clock Club Salary Negotiation Strategy with great success. This valuable skill is one that they can use again in the future with full knowledge and proof that it works.
Robert E. Simmons is a Five O'Clock Club counselor and a Career Consultant at the Northrup Grumman Corporation Career Center. He is also a Principal with Career Transition Associates, a job search assistance firm based in Plainview, New York.