8 tactics to effectively negotiate a pay raise

Asking for a pay raise shouldn’t be a nightmare anymore with these 8 effective tactics that you can implement to help you negotiate your way to a higher salary.

Remain Authentic and Professional

Negotiating a pay raise may be extremely difficult if you don’t have a clear vision regarding your progress. Do you want to do better? Well, trust me; this will work the moment you leave your emotions at the door.

Please take note that the first impression is always important, hence you need to keep it professional and authentic all the time.Don’t be tempted to use any forceful or threatening method to ask for your pay raise. Instead, you should do it in an organised manner. Being threatening or entitled doesn’t help either.

Don’t be greedy or arrogant, or put others down. Most importantly, you shouldn’t compare yourself to your workmates. No matter what happens, remain collected, cool and calm because getting overwhelmed certainly will not get you that pay raise you’re after.

Go through your presentation before submitting it

It’s important that you remain confident and ready to submit the presentation to your boss if it’s about why you’re worth more money. Hence, you need to put in practice before physically approaching your boss.

Consider being ready with various responses in case you boss needs to know more. This comes in handy, especially if you get a straight out ‘no’ or a pushback. In order to have some hint on the barriers or questions that the boss may throw at you, consider practicing with a family member or a friend.

Create time to discuss this issue with your boss

This tactic works out perfectly well because this will send a message to your boss that you are an organised person. Creating time to discuss your pay raise not only gives you time to prepare for the D-Day. The best time to do this is preferably immediately after a positive quarter of financial results. On the other hand, you can choose to select an appropriate time in the year or do it during a scheduled performance review.

Make an appointment that will help ensure you capture the full attention of your boss. Don’t be like other people who just storm into their boss’s office and start a salary negotiation. There is a procedure for achieving anything we are after and the same should apply to this scenario.

Don’t rush into quoting the salary

Rushing to name your salary may send a wrong message to your boss. Be keen when discussing about financial issues with your boss. It is recommendable that you let your boss mention the pay rate first then you can come in later to negotiate the terms. You can request for some days to think over the offer.

When the boss gives you time, you can think over the issue and come up with a decision that will effectively meet your needs.You can look to see if there is more room to increase your terms or negotiate for a higher rate. On the other hand, take note that if your boss agrees to your terms immediately, then there may be chance that you started low. That’s a bit understandable because you may think that naming a higher quote might upset your boss. It also explains why you shouldn’t go first – let your boss take the lead.

Have a list of reasons why you need the raise

Think outside the box and base your negotiations in terms of a higher salary, while explaining why it is important for your overall productivity. This includes a flexible schedule, more training, a bigger role, more responsibility, working from home or even extra vacation time. Before determining what you’re willing to settle for, ensure that you’ve clearly outlined all the things you think are necessary.

Show your performance record

Your boss deserves to know why they should go ahead and accept your request. Show them some evidence and in this case, consider your performance record as the best evidence. This way, you will show your boss that you are more transparent to him. Also, if you have a positive performance record, then be assured of having the upper hand in the negotiation.

You can choose to use a performance plan that clearly shows all your achievements. This way, you will let the company know what it might cost to replace you and also illustrate your worth.

For example, you can decide to take your boss through the goals that you had made together and what you’ve done so far to accomplish them. Trust me, this works perfectly well. I have implemented it several times when I needed a pay raise to suit my worth.

Research salary estimates to justify your request

Taking your time to research salary average puts you a step ahead because it shows that you have solid evidence to back-up your pay raise request. This data is good because it will give you leverage when starting the negotiation.

On the other hand, you can look for similar jobs on popular job boards and compare their salary rate with what you are currently being paid. To further backup your negotiations, you can consider even narrowing down to similar jobs in your local area. Sites like Upwork, Simply Hired, Payscale, or Glassdoor can be of use.

Focus on how the raise would positively impact your productivity

Yes, you should base your negotiations on what the raise is going to do that will improve your level of production. Look at the negotiations as a partnership between you and your boss and not you versus your boss. This way, you will easily decrease the pressure and make yourself feel at ease and calm.

You need to be sure of what you are talking about. So, you should embrace confidence and maintain eye contact during the negotiations. What you tell your boss and the body language that you use is crucial during the negotiations. If you think, you deserve a pay raise – (which I believe you do J) then be ready to put in the energy and skills required to make it successful. It all depends with your state of mind. Your mindset plays a big role when it comes to such situations.

Now, it's your time to shine. And get to that raise.