About to negotiate a raise? Read this first

Think you’re not getting paid enough? Before you throw yourself on your boss’s desk and declare “Baby needs new shoes!” you need to read the advice of Jim Camp, a negotiation coach and trainer and author of NO: The Only Negotiating Strategy You Need for Work and Home. CIO.com recently ran a piece in which Camp outlines the best strategy for negotiating a raise.
He calls his system the “No System” because “We have been taught that win-win is the best possible result, that we need to ‘get to yes’ so that all sides are happy. That’s the biggest mistake you can make in negotiations. No is the best word in a negotiation. If you invite your respected adversary (in this case, your boss) to say no right from the get-go, you will be amazed at how relaxed she becomes during the discussion.”

I thought his suggestions made an incredible amount of sense. The first suggestion was:

1. Don’t be emotional-According to Camp, neediness is the number-one deal-killer. “Not needing this raise or promotion gives you power.”

Basically, I think he’s saying that you should approach the situation as if you were acting as your own agent. (But don’t refer to yourself in the third person. Instead of more money in your hand, you might get a stapler upside your head.)

Don’t try to appeal to your boss’s emotions or sense of fairness. Appeal to his spreadsheet. If you can make a case for yourself by the number of hours you work or money that you’ve made or saved the company, that’s the path you should take. Your boss will more than likely have to make the same case for his boss who will be even more emotionally removed.