Negotiation Tip 3 – “I Deserve It” is Not a Strategy

I’ll call my colleague Karen, who went into her boss’s office last week and demanded a raise and promotion based on “I deserve it.”

Her face was worn from tears as she told me the story of the shortest conversation she ever had with her boss, with whom she believed she had a good relationship until that point. She described how he leaned across the desk and said, “I don’t give raises because YOU think you deserve it. Perhaps we will revisit this in six months.”

After she had her moment(s), she looked at me and said, “Okay, what did I do wrong?”

I looked at my friend and, as compassionately and sternly as I could, I told her, “I deserve it  is not a strategy.”

There are many things in life we believe we deserve and we may, in fact, be right; but in the art of negotiation (and it is an art), deserving involves a subjective determination even though there may be results or evidence to back it up.

When we use the term “I deserve it” there is a message to the party we are speaking with. The message is, “I’m good, and just in case you don’t know it, I will tell you.” It may imply that there are others who are not as deserving. It can also sound like entitlement.

What do you do instead?

1. Start with a strategy which addresses a list of what you want and the benefit to the company.
2. Address how what you’re asking fits into the corporate/organizational vision.
3. Prepare a list of objections you believe will be raised.
4. Deal with every objection.
5. Remember you are not selling yourself. Negotiation and sales are two different animals. If you have to sell yourself, you are not ready to negotiate.

I had a potential client I was pitching look at me and say, “It’s not whether we need you, it is whether we can afford you.”

That statement let me know he was already sold on my ability to add value; now it was time to negotiate.

For more Negotiation Tips – click here.

CALL TO ACTION:

Whether or not you are up for a promotion, take inventory of your situation. Take time to actively listen and see what’s going on around you. Write the vision of your company or organization down, and determine where you fit. The last thing you want to do is climb a ladder and realize you climbed the wrong ladder.

• On the left side of your sheet, write a list of your skill sets backed up with evidence.
• In the middle of the sheet, write down the company/organization’s many needs (based not on where they are, but where they are going).
• Now access where there is a match and where you need to make some adjustments.
• Remember, stay future bound. You must always fit into the present and the future of an organization.

“You don’t get what you want; you don’t get what you work for; you get what you negotiate.” ~ Barbara M. Littles
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