Prepare for negotiation by having options. Recognize that your power in the negotiation is your relationship to the alternatives that each side has.
- Determine your BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.) The side that has the best BATNA has the power in a negotiation.
- Define your alternatives in the event they don’t give you what you want. How many other companies are out there that would give you as good an opportunity or better? Determine their alternatives in the event that you quit over this issue.
- How easy would it be for them to replace you? This way you can establish how much power you have in a negotiation. Reduce the employer’s options by doing one part of your job so well that they wouldn’t know where to find a replacement.
- Realize that the most important pressure point is: Which side is prepared to walk away from the negotiations if they can’t get what they want?
- Develop options before you go into the negotiation. Think through what you are going to do if the boss says no to your requests. (i.e. "What would I do if I wasn’t working here?" What options are available to me?) Make a few phone calls and line up a few options. This is how you develop real power.
- If you want to have ultimate power in a salary negotiation, make the options better than what you’re negotiating for. ("I’ll stay out of a sense of loyalty but I hope that they say no because I really want to go start my own business").
- Be prepared to walk away. It’s the number one pressure point in any negotiation. Don’t do this if you’re in a weak position with your company though; do it only if you are in a strong position.