July 9, 2005

It’s done. After first finding out about the job lead on June 7, Tom finally offered me the Director of Marketing position and provided a compensation plan. During our second meeting, as part of our negotiations, he agreed to two things: (1) the vacation time that I needed for work-life tradeoffs; and (2) flexible schedule, accommodating my commute. The outstanding items were the salary base, bonus, and stock options. After this process, I learned how to build goodwill during the negotiation process, how to use salary data, and five lessons in my career management approach.

It Pays to Be Over Prepared

I had two sources to data for my salary negotiations: the job seeker and employer data from Salary.com. When Tom came in lower than expected or only 6% over my salary base from my previous company, I was prepared to counter. I decided to ask a question recommended to me by a friend, “How did you arrive at that figure?” I was able to learn that he hired an HR consultant to discuss the salary range for the position based on company size and industry. He asked me what I thought. I expressed that I expected him to come in lower than the median, rather than only at the 25th percentile, given my experience and that I exceeded his job requirements.

Initial Offer and Counter Offer

Tom replied, “You know, tonight you have to go home to your partner and I have to go home to mine. We both have to feel good about what we agreed on today. I don’t want to tell my partner that I almost had you hired, but then couldn’t close the deal. I don’t want you to feel that you accepted, but then feel taken advantage of. What do you think you can agree to and still feel good about what we accomplished today? I know that I could go back to my HR consultant, but let’s try to figure this out.”

I paused, and then said, “I hoped your initial offer of X, that would have been somewhere between the median and 75th percentile. However, I understand that you have to go back into start up mode again, since your reinventing your company, after eight years. Tom, I would be okay with Y, which would put me right at median. I think that’s fair given what I’m bringing to the table and with your financial constraints.” I said this calmly, but with some concern in my voice, showing that I understood his perspective, but that I needed to represent mine.

Do You Accept? Can We Discuss the Start Date?

“Well, I think I can accept that,” Tom responded. “Did I hear an acceptance?” he asks. “Yes, I accept the job offer. You’ve been generous in the stock options and bonus. The salary base is acceptable, given the circumstances. I’m happy to join your company.” Adding a light-hearted and playful tone in my voice, I said, “You’re getting me at the top of my game. I think we do some great things together.” Tom agreed, as we enjoyed the moment, but then quickly moved on to pressing issues.

Tom quickly moved onto the start date, knowing that we had agreed on August 1st. “I know we agreed on the 1st, but we have some exciting things coming up that are due by next Friday. I was hoping you could give us some time, before the start date, so I don’t accidentally put us on a course that you may not agree with once you start. I don’t want to interfere with your project for your business, and I know you’re planning to visit your Mother. I definitely don’t want to interfere with your Mom.” Tom was thoughtful and considerate, as he asked me to find time to help him out, sooner versus later. I offered to carve out time for him on Monday through Thursday of this coming week. He sent over the offer letter and the usual documentation for non-compete paperwork. He wanted me to at least “hit reply,” stating that I’ve accepted the job.

Finally, Closure

That’s been my journey since June 7th, when I first heard about the job from a former colleague, Amanda. It was June 20, when Tom first called me about the position. I had my first meeting with him on Wednesday, June 22, then a follow-up meeting on June 29. I provided references on June 30. He contacted one or two of my references on Friday, July 1. He traveled from July 5 through July 7 as he played phone tag with my third reference. Tom decided by end of day July 7 to extend the offer and by Friday the 8, I had the offer and agreed to the terms and now I’ll be his next Director of Marketing.

Frankly, it was a relief after all that preparation in pursuing this job:

1. Updating and creating the four binders of my portfolio and marketing proposals for Tom, see Prudent CEO, 2nd Meeting Next Week for notebook details. Project cost: $400 at FedEx Kinko’s for color copies and color notebook covers.
2. Research in the salary data from both the job seekers and employer perspective. Salary.com cost: $78 & $179.
3. Reviewing salary negotiations books and preparing based on this approach. No costs involved.
4. Learning additional negotiations information for a different perspective, augmenting my preparation this additional information. Book cost: $25.95.
5. Learning about “crucial conversations” for a different approach in communication, integrating communication techniques hoping that I’ll remember on the fly. Book cost: $15.95.

Post-Mortem

In the end, it cost me approximately $700 to help secure the job. I was able to negotiate a salary base that was 19% above my base as Sr. Product Manager, which I felt was appropriate given the circumstances. I’m moving back up the corporate ladder, accomplishing my goal of becoming a director. I was able to protect my work-life tradeoffs, or I should say Tom was more than happy to give this to me, since he values this aspect of his employees’ lives. While I had initial concerns about his style, I’m impressed with how he negotiated my compensation, signaling that he’s fair, as he tries to balance competing priorities. He’s respectful, thoughtful, considerate, methodical, and cautious unlike some of my previous executives. I feel very fortunate to have this job opportunity crossed my path.

Lessons Learned

• Portfolios: I’m two for two with my portfolios. I really believe that when a prospective employer sees your personal portfolio and proposals of how you’d approach the work. I use their logos on the documentation, allowing them to see the potential results and the value that you could bring. The best feedback I’ve heard was from Tom stating, “I want one of everything.”
• Patience: I need to learn patience. I didn’t expect everything right away, but I was impatient when he missed his own deadlines.
• Look at it from Their Point of View: the biggest lesson was trying to see things from Tom’s perspective. Once I read the book Crucial Conversations, his actions made sense, even my own self-talk made sense. Reading Crucial Conversations allowed me to build a relationship, during the negotiations and handle it with care, so I wouldn’t demonstrate any negative traits or hurt my objectives.
• Negotiation Preparation: in retrospect, I’m glad I had that extra time to prepare. While I thought I was ready on July 1, I wasn’t. I had the date, my scenarios, and other key pieces that allowed me to be flexible. The extra time allowed me to accept the potential scenarios and be at peace with the data, so when I had to negotiate what I considered my “worst case,” it wasn’t really the “worst case,” it was my bottom line. I was able to protect my initial compensation plan, and get things that were must-haves for me.
• My compensation package spreadsheet worked: the spreadsheet that I created allowed me to respond to Tom’s offers. I had ranked and scored my goals and scenarios. By assigning points, I was able to see how the offers met my goals. My preferred offer package scored 69 points in the framework I used. His initial offer only scored 53 points or 77% of my goal; I was able to negotiate the deal, scoring 64 points or 94% of my goal.

The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company.

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