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Sometimes it’s necessary to write a salary negotiation letter to clarify your position and ask for higher pay or a raise.  Whether you are responding to an offer letter for a new job, getting a raise in your current position, or have an internal offer for a new position at your current company, negotiating your compensation is a perfectly acceptable practice.  It can be scary–especially in a tough economy, but do yourself a favor and make it happen!  While we at Springraise Salary Negotiation recommend you do as much negotiation as possible in person, over the phone, through a recruiter, or even an HR rep–a letter can be a powerful way to justify your request for more money.

If you would like FREE sample salary negotiation letters, just fill out the form below with the subject “FREE” and we’ll send you your samples!  We include formats that work for letters to managers or to HR reps.

Two Main Goals of Your Salary Negotiation Letter

If you must write a salary negotiation letter, it must achieve two goals:

1. Justify your request for higher salary
Justification of a higher salary request or raise 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 whether looking for higher pay or negotiating salary for a new job.  Another powerful justification is to know the company’s salary scale for your position.  Some companies publish it, but for those that don’t, having that information makes your negotiation that much easier.

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 from the offer or leave your job for a competitor, companies tend to negotiate.

Let me make this clear:

***It is cheaper for them to increase your salary than it is for them to search for candidates.***

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.  Look for another job, even in this economy.  For more information, check out our salary negotiation guide, Get Paid*.  This comprehensive manual walks you through the salary negotiation process, gives you real examples of how people have increased their salaries through letters and personal relationships, as well as gives you insight into how employers make salary decisions.  Get Paid* is a must-have if you’ve just gotten a job offer or raise and want to increase your compensation.  Not acting can lose you thousands of dollars.  I’ve seen it happen.  Don’t let it happen to you.

Why Negotiate Salary?  It Makes You Much More Money

Let’s say you don’t negotiate and get paid $5,000 less than you could have made.  If you’re a strong performer, at next raise time, you may have gotten 10%.  So you made $45,000 per year instead of $50,000.  Instead of getting a $5,000 raise next year, you got $4,500.  You lose not only the $5,000 from the first year, but $500 next year.  Imagine you stay on the 10% increase path for 5 years.  You will have lost over $33,000 in total because you didn’t negotiate for that initial $5,000 you deserved.  Again, don’t let it happen.  Get Paid* shows you how to avoid this pitfall and others to get on higher salary ground throughout the rest of your career.  Check it out and good luck!

***Special Offer for Kindle and Kindle App Users (KindleFire, iPad, iPhone, GalaxyTab, etc.)–Get our Salary Negotiation Guide for 33% off. Only $2.99! The Kindle App is free in the App Store and Android Market.***

If you would like FREE sample salary negotiation letters, just fill out the form below with the subject “FREE” and we’ll send you your samples!

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