When and why you should go below the line in your salary negotiations
There are two types of negotiations, competitive negotiations, and cooperative negotiations. Cooperative negotiation aims to understand and creatively meet the needs of both parties involved whether that be a salary negotiation or a procurement contract. And a good negotiator knows how to go below the line.
Negotiations are not always rational
People are motivated by all kinds of things besides money. And often emotional issues motivate the people behind a negotiation. Some people want to be motivated by a meaningful mission and so an employer may use their mission (if it’s a good one) in place of salary when they don’t have the cash to compete with big tech salaries - non-profits do this all the time.
By asking ourselves what factors could be in play and understanding the other party’s interests, we can gain leverage in a negotiation - including salary negotiations.
Imagine if I made a fist and told you to open it. What would you do? Some of you would try and force my hand open. Others would try and get me to give them a high-five or even tickle me to open my hand. Or if you’re my wife, you may try to make a deal with me to open my hand for a shoulder massage. The point here is that intangibles matter in a negotiation. And understanding those intangibles is very important.
When positions aren’t aligned, most people will do things to get leverage. In my example above, they try to force my hand open. But this only escalates the situation and my tendency then is to clinch my fist tighter.
Don’t take interests lightly
It’s important to distinguish interests as separate from perspective or position. Positions are concrete, easily identifiable, able to be divided, and you can break them down and negotiate them. Interests on the other hand are intangible, difficult to articulate, and hard to identify. But if you can identify them, they are powerful in creating win-win cooperative negotiations.
Interests can be broken down into six categories of things that really drive most people:
Ego
Fear
Motives
Values
Relationships
Circumstances
If you can identify what the other person’s interests are, you can help move the negotiation along to a place where you get what you want and the other person is also happy with the outcome.
The power of going below the line
If you were in a salary negotiation with a CEO or founder who was passionate about their mission, would they rather hire the person who also is passionate about the same mission and will love it and carry the banner when they’re not around? If you’re the candidate who will do this, make sure to spell out how you’re going to continue the mission and expand its reach. Would that CEO be willing to pay more if they knew and believed you were intrinsically motivated to make a difference? If they were a crazy Steve Jobs fan, and you used to be his Executive Assistant, that would be an important “below the line” fact to bring up!
There is power in going below the line in any negotiation, including a salary negotiation. The key is to understand and creatively respond to the other party’s interests.
How to go below the line in a salary negotiation
Like any part of a negotiation, going below the line involves a specific strategy. This six-step process comes from Dr. John Lowry’s instruction at Pepperdine Univerity in Mailbu, California, and is adapted to salary negotiation specifically. The first three parts are about capturing information and the last three are about using that information to negotiate.
Go below the line.
Be intentional with going below the line. It won’t happen naturally in an interview. This requires a moment of leadership. It’s a very different kind of conversation than the typical interview questions and it won’t happen without your leadership on it.
Ask questions.
You want to know why but you have to be careful how you ask. You don’t want to say “why do you think that?” A statement like that will only make the other person defensive.
Listen.
Listen for the unstated things - the things that the other person is having trouble stating clearly. Listen for their interests and then gently and comfortably repeat it back to confirm. This will not be as easy as it sounds. Listening is hard because you’re smart. You can listen to about 700 words per minute. The problem is people talk at about 200 words per minute so you have all this excess capacity and your mind will start to wander.
Create Options.
List out the things that you can do to solve the problem. Make this collaborative with the other person to come up with ideas.
Develop Options
You’ve tossed some ideas around, now you have to determine if it’s doable and narrow the list down to the most achievable things.
Evaluate Options
What is the best option that meets the interests of yourself and the other side? If you can interpret this you will advance your relationship with the other person and you will get the job offer at a salary that you are excited about.
Why employers say this, what it means, and what you can do.