Sometimes it’s necessary to write a salary negotiation email to clarify your position and ask for higher salary. While we at Springraise recommend you do as much negotiation as possible in person, over the phone, through a recruiter, or even an HR rep from the company you’re interviewing with–an email can be a powerful way to justify your request for more money.
If you must write a salary increase email, it must achieve two goals:
1. Justify your request for higher salary
Justification of a higher salary request can be difficult because there are few external sources that a company will consider valid to justify your request. There are some great pieces of information that companies do use including salary surveys. These surveys are sold to companies so they can get a sense of what competitive salaries are at different levels. If you have that report, then you have equal ground.
2. Convey that you’re willing to walk away from the offer
Positioning in negotiation is key. The ultimate power in a salary negotiation is walking away. Companies spend thousands of dollars to get people in the seats to interview. When they like someone, they WANT that person. If you are that person and there’s a credible threat that you’ll walk away, companies tend to negotiate. Let me make this clear:
I have hired many people throughout the course of my career and this is generally accepted law, not theory. It’s a secret employers don’t want you to know! So have confidence and don’t be afraid to actually walk away if the salary isn’t right.
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You’re going to see other sites who propose long five paragraph salary increase emails. Don’t fall into that trap. Your justification can be short and to the point. Note, and this is VERY important: Don’t try to justify your salary increase by using only salary calculators. That will offend the person with whom you’re trying to negotiate. Why? Because salary calculators are unreliable and companies believe they already offered you a competitive package.
Your justification must have more meat to it, including your current salary, and whether you would have to take a pay cut. If you have the salary information for someone at that company at your entry level, then using that would be beneficial. This is extremely important in winning your negotiation.
Also, your justification should also include something that will benefit the company AND your manager directly. Give the manager something to look forward to when hiring you at your negotiated salary. Good luck!
