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Negotiating job offers
Everything you need to write the perfect salary negotiation email using the template that has earned candidates $20M and counting
by Josh Doody
A salary negotiation email is the best way to ask for a higher salary or other benefits before beginning a new job. You may only get one opportunity to negotiate your new salary before you’re an employee, so you want to make it count.
In this article, you’ll get the proven email template used by thousands of people, and hundreds of my coaching clients, to earn more than $20,000,000 additional compensation. I’ll walk you through the template step-by-step so you can write your own salary negotiation email to make sure you get paid what you’re worth.
In this article, you’ll get the exact template I’ve used to negotiate my own salary, and help hundreds of coaching clients negotiate a combined $15,000,000+ in additional compensation. And thousands more people have used this template to negotiate their own job offers.
I lost count a long time ago, but the template below has earned people at least $20,000,000 in additional income and probably a lot more.
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Here’s the template:
To: [Recruiter]
Subject: [Your name] - My thoughts on [Company name]'s job offer
Hi [Recruiter name]
I hope you had a great weekend!
I've been considering your offer over the weekend and everything sounds good, although I would like to discuss the [counter dimension].
I think I'm a particularly good match for this position, where I would add significant value to [company name] and to [hiring manager’s name]’s team right away. [I have a strong technical background and have built and managed teams of technical people. I am exceptionally good with clients, and have taught short courses on building rapport with and managing clients. I have an MBA and have successfully managed many portfolios of business in the Widget Making industry over the past seven years. I've been working with [Partner Company] for over two and a half years, and have experience with many of their partnership managers and leadership team. I have a strong technical writing background and can both create and delegate the creation of good collateral quickly and efficiently.]
All of these qualities contribute directly to the core components of this particular position, and that's why I'm excited for the opportunity to work with [manager name] and his team in this capacity at [Company name].
You offered [Offer amount] and I would be more comfortable if we could settle on [counter amount]. I feel that amount reflects the importance and expectations of the position for [company name]’s business, and my qualifications and experience as they relate to this particular role.
Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
All the best
[Your name]
Don't forget! Make sure you replace anything [in brackets] with your own details and you should be good to go.
The best way to show you how to write your salary negotiation email is to walk through each section of the template so you know how to adapt it for your own situation.
Each component is important!
If you prefer a video walkthrough, here’s a video walkthrough of this template where I’ll show you each component and tell you how I use this template with my clients (or just keep reading).
Make sure to include your name and some indication that it is about your salary negotiation so you can be sure your recruiter doesn’t miss your counter offer, and so you can easily find it later if you need it.
You may be able to reply directly to an email from your recruiter, or you can start a new email thread with a new subject.
Including a personal comment like “I hope you had a great weekend!” can help build rapport with the recruiter. It’s good to make it clear that you are working with them as a collaborator on the salary negotiation process. You want them to want to help you!
Cut to the chase: You’re going to negotiate.
Don’t state your counter offer yet because because you want to make your case before you make a specific “ask”. Making your case is a major component of your salary negotiation email, and it will take up a lot of space. But before you get there, you want them to know that there’s a counter offer coming later on.
Now you’ll write the longest paragraph in the email: your case to justify your counter offer.
Why spend all this time making your case instead of just getting to the point and making your counter offer? There are two main reasons:
First, by making your case before your counter offer, you’re reinforcing the fact that you will add significant value to the company in this role. The better your case, the more reasonable your counter offer will seem.
Second, when your recruiter needs additional approval for your counter offer, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to make a strong case to justify the additional salary. So you’re giving them a well-written counter offer email that they can circulate along with their request for additional budget. You will make your own case much better than they will.
Don’t go overboard here—four or Five reasons that you’re a good fit for the role should do it. And make sure each reason includes the skill or experience that you bring to the table and how applying that skill or experience to their team will be valuable to the team and the company.
Now we’re getting to the good stuff: it’s time to counter offer.
Before you counter, it’s good to briefly summarize the job offer so there’s no confusion or miscommunication because if there has been any miscommunication around your job offer, now is the time to find out.
And then state your counter offer in a firm but neutral way. “I would be more comfortable if we can settle on $115,000.” is a good way to phrase your counter offer. It’s not combative, but it is firm and makes it easy for the recruiter to simply reply with “Ok, we can do that.” if it’s within the approved salary range.
Need help determining your counter offer amount? Use this counter offer calculator to get started:
Just as you opened your salary negotiation email with a kind greeting to emphasize that you want to work with your recruiter as a collaborator, you should end the email the same way. You also want to make sure they know that they have the next action—the ball is in their court!
Still not convinced? Here's why you should always negotiate your salary over email:
Here are a few quick tips to help you get the most out of this template.
It can be tempting to ask for a bunch of things at once, hoping you get one or two things on your list.
Don’t do it!
If you get them a list of things to choose from, they’ll choose the cheapest things to give you, and those things will almost certainly not be the things that are most important to you.
Ask for the thing that is most important to you first. See how much improvement you get there, then move on to the second-most important thing. And then the third.
You might get up to three “asks”, so you’ll want to make each one of them count. The best way to do this is by prioritizing the things that are important to you and asking for one at a time.
I'm Josh Doody, a professional salary negotiation coach who helps High Earners negotiate their job offers. On average, High Earners improve their first-year compensation by $47,273 with my help.
Apply for a free 15-minute intro call to learn how I can help.
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