Knowledge Is The Edge You Need in Salary Negotiations

Psychological manipulation is a close second

When I returned from my first job interview in my senior year of college, my girlfriend gave me some tough love.

“You should have negotiated your salary! It’s way too low.”

I told her I had asked about it, but the hiring manager had strong budget constraints from HR, and it was the best he could do. To make it up, he had promised they would review my compensation after a year in the company.

She smiled sarcastically. “Of course. It doesn’t cost anything to promise to review your compensation. “Let me draft you an e-mail. I bet anything you want — you’ll get a new offer.”

I agreed but didn’t make any bet because I knew from previous experiences that I would lose.

Dear [Redacted],

Thank you again for this stimulating discussion today. It confirmed what I already knew in my heart. Joining your team and learning under your supervision is the logical continuation of my studies. Thanks to you and your company, the end of my bachelor’s will be the true beginning I had dreamt of for my career.

I discussed this with my mentor, and he strongly supports my decision. He only had doubts about your salary offer. I assured him we discussed this point and explained your budget constraints, but he insisted I told you this offer was significantly below the current market practice to his knowledge. He said I should return to this discussion in no uncertain terms and refuse to sign any proposition that wouldn’t be at least 27% higher than the current one. It’s a difficult situation for me because I have tremendous respect for my mentor, whom I deeply trust after almost four years of our monthly seminars — and I completely understand your position and the financial constraints of a department of your size and performance.

I sincerely hope we resolve this issue for the best; I can’t imagine a future professional career without you or my mentor by my side.

Respectfully yours,

Signature.

I looked at my girlfriend with surprise. “But this isn’t true?! And why 27%?”

“27% because round numbers seem made up. Precise numbers make you look like you did some research. And what do you mean it’s not true? There are two types of lies in life. Bad lies that are easily verifiable and will get you caught. And good lies that are believable and realistic. They’re so good that they’re not lies. I call them storytelling.”

She kissed me, I hit send because I knew she knew better, and three days later, I received a revised offer, including a 28.3% increase in my total compensation package.

I almost asked my girl why 28.3% and not 27%, but I remembered what she had told me. When I had written 27%, it had become a round number, and to save face, they needed to show they had made their calculation to “stretch their budget to the maximum” and “make me an offer that would satisfy all parties.”

On my first day at work, we discussed the onboarding plan for the next few weeks. At the end of our meeting, my manager couldn’t resist and asked me who had written the e-mail. “Sorry, I can’t believe you wrote it. The negotiation techniques used were too different from our discussion during the interview.”

I felt it was better to base our working relationship on honesty and told him the truth about my girlfriend. His reaction surprised me.

“Amazing. The purchasing department is looking for someone. Do you think your girlfriend would be interested?”

Of course, she was. Her interview was a formality. They were all fascinated by her skills and strategic perspectives. She even negotiated an internship in HR for her younger sister on top of a higher salary than mine.

Two months later, we were ready for the next step of our plan

My girlfriend and I had created a network of contacts on the business side, and her sister had access to confidential market benchmark data from HR.

It was more than enough knowledge to start our Hiring Consultancy Firm targeted to our fellow graduates and future graduates. We based our strategy on two pillars: knowledge and psychological manipulation.

• We reviewed offer letters for free. It was our lead magnet.
• And we sold negotiation coaching sessions to teach them the basics of psychological manipulation and increase their total compensation.

Ten years later, we have a thriving business and a network of mentors in all possible lines of business. They share their knowledge of compensations in their companies in exchange for the market report we produce quarterly.

Because they know there’s always room to negotiate your compensation.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-hire or a seasoned professional. The trick is to know the market and learn a few negotiation techniques.

Smillew is an HR consultant coach with a black belt in negotiation techniques. He’s one of the founding members of the Top Hat Seminar, where people exchange best practices.