Most people prepare for a salary conversation the way untrained sales teams prepare for a price negotiation. They pick a number, hope for the best and concede the moment they hear “budget”. At IMPACT Negotiation Group we help commercial and procurement teams prepare for high-stakes negotiations. The discipline that protects margin in a supplier deal works just as well when the deal is your own pay.
This guide gives you one preparation method with two routes: negotiating a new job offer, or asking for more in the role you already have. It includes worksheets, checklists and a one-page brief you can print or copy. It is free, and it is built on published negotiation research rather than folklore.
The method is the same for both routes, but the evidence, the timing and the person across the table are different.
| Route A: a new job offer | Route B: a raise in your current role | |
|---|---|---|
| Central question | What is this role worth in this market, and what package makes it right for me? | What is my contribution worth now, compared with when my pay was last set? |
| Strongest evidence | Market benchmarks for the role, level and location; the advertised range; your other options | Documented results since your last pay review; expanded responsibilities; market benchmarks |
| Timing | After the offer is made and before you accept. Once you accept, your leverage largely disappears. | Before budget and review cycles close, or after a clear, documented step up in results or scope |
| Main contact | Recruiter or hiring manager, who often relays to a decision-maker | Your manager, who may need HR or finance approval |
| If the answer is no | Explore other parts of the package, compare it with your alternatives, or decline | Ask what stands in the way, agree what would need to change, and get a revisit date in writing |
A number without evidence is a wish. A number backed by three independent benchmarks is a position. Match roles on responsibilities, seniority, location, industry and company size, not on job title alone, and check whether a figure describes base salary or the total package.
Use several types of benchmark, not one salary website:
Worksheet: your benchmark log. Record three to five benchmarks, then summarise a range you can defend.
| Source and date | Role match and seniority | Location | Pay basis (gross, monthly or annual, number of payments) | Base only or total package? | Range or median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| My defensible range |
Tip: in the Netherlands, Germany and France, check whether a figure includes holiday allowance, a 13th month or variable pay before you compare it. Treat broad occupational statistics as context, not as an exact valuation of your role.
Decision-makers don’t pay for effort. They pay for outcomes they can defend to their own manager. Turn each achievement into a three-part line: what I did → what changed → why it mattered to the business.
Illustrative example: “Renegotiated our three largest logistics contracts → reduced annual freight cost by 8% → protected margin in a year of rising prices.”
Results don’t have to be revenue. Quality, service, risk reduction, delivery and team support all count. Use figures you can verify, and be honest about what was your contribution and what was the team’s.
| What I did | What changed (number, time, quality) | Why it mattered to the business |
|---|---|---|
On Route B, keep this list running all year. Career experts interviewed by the Associated Press recommend keeping a running record of accomplishments and positive feedback for exactly this conversation.
Professional negotiators never enter a meeting with one number. Prepare three, and keep two of them to yourself.
| Number | What it means | Who knows it? | My base salary | My total package |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening request | Ambitious, and defensible from your benchmarks and evidence | You say it | ||
| Target | What you realistically aim to land | Private | ||
| Private minimum | Below this, your alternative is better | Private | ||
| My BATNA | My best alternative if there is no agreement | Private | ||
Your minimum should come from your BATNA, your best alternative to a negotiated agreement, a concept from Roger Fisher and William Ury’s Getting to Yes. That could be your current job, another offer or a planned move. On Route B, a rejected request doesn’t automatically mean resigning: your alternative might be an agreed review date or a deliberate job search. Without a real alternative, your “minimum” is only a hope. Read more about walk-away points in our guide to the ZOPA in negotiation.
Why the first number matters. Research on anchoring shows that the first figure on the table pulls the outcome towards it. A 2025 meta-analysis of 90 studies by Petrowsky and colleagues found that making the first offer, and making it ambitious, tends to improve the first mover’s result. Very aggressive first offers also increase the risk of no deal and leave the other side less satisfied. You will work with this person afterwards, so aim for assertive but credible.
Should you name a number first? Go first when your market data is solid. If the employer clearly knows more about the pay range than you do, ask what range has been budgeted for the role. The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School makes the same distinction: first offers help when you are well prepared and informed.
There is no universal “ask for X% more” rule. The right request depends on market data, your evidence, the employer’s pay structure and your alternatives.
Structure beats eloquence. Use this five-part sequence and write your own words next to each part:
Put your priorities on the table together. If you agree salary first and then ask for a signing payment, a review date and a training budget one by one, each new request feels like “one more thing”. Present the package as one proposal, then trade.
Salary-negotiation programmes such as AAUW Work Smart put practice on the same level as research. Use this checklist:
An objection is information, not a verdict. Before you counter, find out what is really behind it. Useful questions beat clever comebacks.
| What you hear | What it might mean | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| “There’s no budget.” | The budget is fixed this cycle, or the salary is fixed but other elements aren’t | “Is that this year’s budget or the whole package? Which parts have flexibility, and when could we look at it again?” |
| “You’re at the top of the band.” | The role is graded; movement comes from regrading, not from the number | “Do my current responsibilities still fit this grade? What would it take to move to the next one, and who decides?” |
| “We need to see more from you first.” | Unclear criteria, or a real performance gap | “What specifically would you need to see, by when, and how will it be assessed?” |
| “Salary is fixed by the collective agreement.” | The scale is fixed; the step on the scale, start date or other terms may not be | “Which step of the scale would I start at, and what determines that?” |
| “I need approval.” | Your counterpart may support you but cannot decide | “What will the decision-maker need to see? Can I help you build that case, and when should we reconnect?” |
If the answer is still no, the experts interviewed by the Associated Press give practical advice: ask what makes it difficult to say yes, agree when you will revisit the conversation, and ask to get that timeframe in writing.
Never judge an offer on base salary alone. Compare its value in the first year with its ongoing value: a signing payment improves year one but doesn’t change your recurring salary, and a promised review is a chance to reconsider, not a guaranteed increase.
| Element | What to confirm | First year | Ongoing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Gross amount, pay basis, number of payments, holiday allowance | ||
| Variable pay | Which parts are guaranteed and which depend on targets | ||
| One-time payments | Signing or relocation payment: amount, timing, repayment conditions | ||
| Equity or long-term incentives | Type, vesting schedule, conditions if you leave | ||
| Benefits and conditions | Pension, car or mobility budget, hybrid working, leave, training budget | ||
| Title and next review | Job title, effective date, date and criteria of the next pay review |
On Route A, negotiate before you accept and ask for the offer in writing; the career guidance of Harvard’s Mignone Center for Career Success notes that your negotiation window closes once you accept. On both routes, send a short email summarising what was agreed, and don’t resign or sign until you have the written contract or offer letter.
In B2B negotiations we rarely trade one variable at a time, and the same applies here. Rank what matters to you, and look for items that cost the employer little but are worth a lot to you. This is the logic of integrative negotiation.
| Item | My priority (1–5) | Likely cost to the employer (low, medium, high) | I would trade it for… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | |||
| Variable pay or bonus | |||
| Signing or relocation payment | |||
| Start date | |||
| Remote or hybrid days | |||
| Training or certification budget | |||
| Title or scope | |||
| Earlier pay review |
Bring everything together on one page and take it into the meeting.
Good managers prepare too. Know your pay band and approval limits before the meeting, ask for the employee’s evidence, explain the pay criteria openly, and never leave a “no” without a path and a date. Pay transparency rules will increasingly expect this anyway.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970 gives job applicants the right to information about the starting pay or pay range of a role, and stops employers from asking about their pay history. Employees also gain the right to information about pay levels and the criteria for pay progression. EU member states had until 7 June 2026 to turn the directive into national law, and many missed that deadline. Because the directive works through national law, check which rights already apply in your country.
Status as of 13 November 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Collective agreements and national law take precedence.
It is uncommon when the request is polite, specific and backed by evidence. Show that you want the role, make one clear proposal, and avoid ultimatums you don’t intend to carry out.
If your market data is solid, going first lets you set the anchor. If the employer knows much more about the range than you do, ask what range has been budgeted first.
Give a range based on market data for the role, not on your current pay, and link it to the full package: “Based on comparable roles, I’m looking at a range of X to Y, depending on the overall package.”
The EU Pay Transparency Directive prohibits it, but it applies through national law, which not every country had adopted by November 2026. Until it applies in your country, you can politely redirect the conversation to the value of the role.
There is no universal percentage. Base your opening request on benchmarks, your evidence and your alternatives, and keep it ambitious but credible.
Ask whether the constraint is this year’s budget or the whole package, which elements are flexible, and when an adjustment could be considered. Then get that date in writing.
The method you have just used is the same discipline our consultants apply to high-value commercial negotiations: research, evidence, planned numbers, a clear proposal and a plan for every response. In our training programmes, teams apply it to their own deals and test it in simulations against experienced negotiators.
Our Negotiation Consulting services leverage a proven, successful methodology to deliver exceptional outcomes. We empower our clients either through direct support (consulting) or long-lasting capability development to achieve the best possible results in every negotiation.
