Everybody wants to be paid more money at work, yet so many people approach asking for a raise the wrong way. If you don’t understand the nuance of how to negotiate with your boss—or if you just don’t deserve an increase—asking for more money can often hurt your relationship…and your career prospects.
In this video, I share 10 tips for how to make the conversation with your boss go more smoothly. I used these same techniques to ask for (and get) multiple raises back when I worked in advertising.
I’ll cover:
- The first and single most critical thing you need in order to get a raise
- What can happen if you use the wrong approach
- Why asking for a specific dollar amount gives you a better chance of getting a raise
- How to find information that gives you more leverage negotiating a higher salary
- Why timing is important on both a macro and a micro level
- How you can get creative when it comes to “compensation”
- Why threatening to quit is never the right way to get more money, even if it “works”
- And more…
After you’ve watched the video, let me know what you think. Have you ever asked your boss for more money? How did it go?
Hi,
Great tips! My manager constantly states that I’m overpaid compared to my peers (which is not entirely true). How do I counter that when the salaries of my peers is not public knowledge?
Also, i recently had the appraisal meeting and we talked about a raise. Do you think it’s a good idea to summarize our conversation over email and re-emphasize on what my expectations are for this appraisal?
Thanks!
Thanks UG! I think you have to be delicate about how you approach that. While it is helpful to know what your peers are making within the company—and in the industry in general—you can’t rely on that for your entire argument (“everyone else is getting paid this, so I should get this too.”), otherwise it can sound like whining. It’s better to bring everything back to the positive: reinforce the value that you’ve been providing to the company and highlight specific accomplishments (make sure they are substantial). And try to frame it in a way that shows that you’ll be very grateful if they can bring you up to X level. In the past, I have literally said. “I feel like I’ve been contributing a great deal to the company, and I’m a key member of the team. I’d really appreciate it if you can get me to X.” The key is to always stay positive, and allow your boss to feel good about giving the raise as opposed to being backed into a corner. To that point, I personally would NOT summarize your conversation in email. I think could backfire on you. It adds a bit more pressure, and if the tone of your email is mis-read, again, you could come accross as an entitled whiner. The email would probably sound to stilted. I think it’s best to have these conversations in person to ensure that you’re taking advantage of the personal rapport you have one-on-one with your boss. It should almost come across as a “heart-to-heart” personal conversation. If you’re finding that you don’t have personal rapport with your boss, that’s a different situation, and you need to stop thinking about a raise and start thinking about how to build a better working relationship with your manager. Hope that helps. Good luck!