Home » How to Negotiate For Higher Salary Over The Phone? {4 Expert Tips}

How to Negotiate For Higher Salary Over The Phone? {4 Expert Tips}

Negotiating your salary for a new job is never easy. You do not want to put a very high figure for fear of putting off your recruiters for good, but you do not want to be underpaid either.

Negotiations can be tough to conduct in-person during the best times, and when you have to do so over the phone, it can prove trickier. You have to understand the temperament of your hiring managers and sound confident enough to put the idea across that you know your worth.

While conducting salary negotiations over the phone, there are certain advantages that you may enjoy. To start with, even if you are nervous, your hiring managers do not exactly get to see that. You can also speak from a comfortable position as you are not necessarily in the daunting office of your employers.

Hence, if you know specific vital strategies, you can negotiate for a higher salary over the phone and have an advantage over your recruiters. You can get the compensation package and benefits you deserve and also put in your clauses and reasons why you deserve the amount you are asking for. Here is how to do so.

Bonus Read: Can You Lose a Job Offer By Negotiating Salary? Ace Negotiations With These Tips!

Points to Remember While Negotiating Salary Over the Phone

Because of the medium over which you will be negotiating your salary, you can miss out on a few points and end up with an unpleasant deal. To prevent that from happening, here are certain things you should keep in mind while negotiating your salary over the phone.

1. Look at the Whole Picture

Since you will be speaking over the phone, chances are that the recruiters have not put any paper in front of you in writing which lists the entire breakdown of your pay package. Hence, it is essential that you look at the whole picture before agreeing to a pay package. Do not just reply in the affirmative as soon as the recruiters tell you a figure.

Even if the figure may look lucrative and close to what you were expecting, you must still ask about the deductions and taxes they entail. Are there any other hidden clauses? Does the package include medical benefits and travel expenses? All of these factors need to be considered before you agree to the figure.

2. Make Notes

Make Notes
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While negotiating your salary, always keep making notes about the various factors that will likely influence your pay package. Many of these factors often get overlooked while speaking on the phone.

For example, you can ask for a higher salary if the office is located too far away or you have to make frequent trips to various sites due to work. Now since you are speaking from the comforts of your home over the phone – this vital factor might skip your mind at the time of negotiation because you might not have made one of those trips yet.

But if you keep making notes, these pertinent points will stay in your mind during the final discussion and negotiation.

3. Do Your Research about Growth Prospects

Do Your Research about Growth Prospects
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While almost all the applicants do their research on the current industry salary range, it is also essential that you look to the future about the company’s growth rate and remuneration packages for the future. Is the company known for giving rewards, bonuses, and decent salary hikes to their employees? Is the company known for providing fair and timely appraisals based on performance?

While negotiating your salary over the phone, be sure to ask your recruiters about these pertinent points after doing your research. This will also convey that you are looking forward to staying long-term with the company, which recruiters often welcome.

4. Never Reach an Immediate Decision

Even if the offer is too good to be true, you would be wise never to agree to the salary your recruiters offer on the first phone call. To start with, you might come across as desperate. Secondly, no matter how great the figure sounds, there will always be something that you will remember later and which you might have wanted to include in your pay package.

Hence, it is always a good idea to ask your recruiters to send you a copy of the breakup of your compensation package and tell them politely that you will get back to them later.

5. Do Not Mention Financial Problems

No matter what you do, never bring your financial issues into the mix while negotiating for a higher salary over the phone. You must carry on the negotiations and demand a higher figure based on your performance and merit. You must be able to convince your recruiters that you will bring some new dimension to the workplace and add to the value of your team because of your experience and sound knowledge of the job you would be entrusted to do.

Do not mention things like you have a home loan to pay or medical issues at home due to which you want a higher figure. Keep those details to yourself. Chances are that instead of acting as leverage, they will undermine your position because it will reveal that you are in desperate need of a job and would give the impression that you would settle for any figure.

Your recruiters might use this information against you and try to pin you down for a lower amount instead.

6. Declining with Grace

Declining with Grace
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If your hiring managers are just not ready to pay what you are asking for, you must not be afraid to say “No” and walk away. There might be times when the negotiations do not work but do not let that dishearten you.

Most importantly, maintain your professional decorum till the very end. Even if the negotiation was unsuccessful, thank the recruiters for their time and maintain your courtesies before disconnecting the call.

4 Tips to Help You With Higher Salary Negotiations Over the Phone

4 Tips to Help You with Higher Salary Negotiations Over the Phone
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When you speak on the phone, your recruiters do not get to see you in person, and there are certain preconceived notions that you have to break and create a favorable impression about you as a perfect candidate. Here are some tips to help you do so.

1. Voice Modulation

Since your hiring managers will not be able to see your facial expression while speaking on the phone, you have to convey everything through your voice. Hence, voice modulation is a skill you better work on before entering the negotiations.

However, it would be best if you were careful not to sound overly dramatic. Yet, it would be best if you come across as enthusiastic about the job and eager to take the hiring process to the next level.

2. Being Respectful

Whether you are asking for a raise or asking for a higher salary while joining a new position, in any case, you must come across as respectful and not sound as though you are demanding. It is essential to sound confident over the phone, but there is a very thin line here.

Since the recruiters cannot see your face, they might not know you are smiling and being polite while negotiating. The tone of the voice or the choice of words might present an entirely different picture. Hence, try to be respectful and professional at all times, and always keep your tone courteous.

3. Be Crisp And Brief

Be Crisp and Brief
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Professional phone conversations are not very long, so make sure that whatever you say to negotiate for a higher salary does not take much time. Whatever points you have to make in your favor to ask for a higher figure should be brief, crisp, and yet impactful.

Thus, you must prepare your points well in advance, and it is not something that you can automatically think up on the spot.

Try to think of all the possible scenarios and counterarguments and prepare possible answers for them. It might not be able to anticipate the exact questions you may be asked, but preparing adequate reasons to ask for a higher salary should be well within your grasp.

Bonus Read: How to Answer Desired Salary Interview Question? (With Examples).

4. Look for Verbal Cues

Since you will not be speaking to your recruiter in person, you will not be able to see their body language and facial expressions and determine what they might be thinking. Hence, you need to train your ears to understand verbal cues. Are they taking a long pause when you tell them about the figure you are expecting?

Are they reluctant to pursue questions related to the scope of growth you have in the company? Are there other people in the room who seem to communicate before giving your answers? These things can help you understand their mood, and you can make your next move likewise.

Conclusion

Asking for a higher salary is alright if you think that is what you deserve. You should not be underpaid for the time and effort you are putting in. Asking for a higher salary shows that you know your worth and are unwilling to sell yourself short.

It is just that doing so over the phone might prove to be a bit more challenging than doing so in person. Always maintain your calm and yet be assertive. You do not have to agree to anything that they say. Take your time to think about the conversation, and you can get back to your hiring managers in a day or two.