Is it possible to start making more money after just one conversation? Yes, and in this article you’ll learn exactly how.
These steps will help you to better prepare for negotiation concerning your raise, enabling you to have a conversation with your boss confidently.
Step 1. 3 months before the conversation
When it comes to getting a raise, the key is to remember that it shouldn’t be about you. You should think about what you can do for your employer.
Telling them that you need a bigger salary because your expenses have raised is a bad strategy. However, you can explain to them how your efforts have clearly contributed to the company’s growth and ask for fair compensation.
This is the reason why you need to wait three months before asking for a raise, as during this time you’ll track everything connected to your performance and results. The latter is particularly essential, the company’s result is what really matters for your boss.
If it’s difficult to understand the precise results of your work, ask a more experienced colleague to help you out.
Another important thing to do is to ask your boss if there are any ways for you to do your job better. Make sure that your intention to exceed expectations is clear and try to hint about future negotiation on compensation in the future.
Necessary actions:
- Measure your results using hard numbers if possible.
- Discuss the ways to improve your work performance with your boss.
Step 2. 2 months before the conversation.
Now you should meet your boss one more time to show them the results you’ve been measuring. Here you need to ask what you could do better.
This step is crucial for ensuring that you are on the right track. And even more importantly, you need to communicate a message that you’re a great employee to your boss.
Plus, by this time, you need to establish a goal salary you’d like to achieve. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have the exact salary goal in mind during the raise negotiations for them to be successful.
Why? Not only will it make you appear more professional in the eyes of your boss, but it will also help you to have more control over the conversation.
But don’t just run into the office and shout, “I want $100,000 a year!!!”
Rather show them how valuable you are; more on that in the video about the Briefcase Technique.
Before talking to your boss, do research about the average industry pay for what you do. There are some great resources for finding this information:
- Salary.com: This is a website where both employers and job seekers can analyze compensation rates for particular jobs in a huge range of companies.
- Glassdoor.com: This site has an amazingly helpful salary tool that shows you the national average salary for your job and the common rate of compensation in your area.
Other ways of finding out what you should expect include simply googling the information and talking to colleagues.
Necessary actions:
- Convince your boss that you’ve been working hard and tracking your results. Ask them whether you can improve anything.
- Define the exact salary goal you want to achieve. This will help you to be able to negotiate effectively.
Step 3. 1 month before the conversation
The time has come to finally mention to your boss that you’d like to talk about a raise in a meeting the next month.
Ask what is necessary to make the discussion fruitful and use this information later.
Also, identify problems in the company’s work and try to find ways to solve them.
Necessary actions:
- Plan a meeting to talk about compensation with your boss.
- Find some problems in your company and try to find the ways to solve them.
Step 4. 2 weeks before the conversation
People lose so much money because they are afraid of negotiations with their bosses. That’s why you need to practice beforehand.
You ask a friend or family member to help you with this.
Prepare responses for these questions and practice answering them:
“What do you expect in terms of salary?”
We’ve talked about this – have a number in mind and the justification for it.
The next thing you’re likely to hear is something like “We can’t afford to pay you more.”
It’s likely to be completely false to discourage you.
“How much do you earn now?”
Here your employer is trying to see whether you’re getting the industry average. Even if you are, prove (using facts) why your performance is better than the average and should be compensated accordingly.
Necessary actions:
- Find people who can help you practice the negotiations. Make sure to get honest feedback.
- Think about decent answers to the questions you might be asked.
All in all, the ability to negotiate successfully is a skill – you have to practice to be successful at it. Use these tips and prepare well, we’re sure you’ll do just fine!
