Salary negotiation is one of the most practical applications of negotiation skills, and a few principles separate average outcomes from excellent ones. The best time to negotiate salary is after you receive a job offer but before you accept it, when you have maximum leverage. When asked during interviews about salary expectations, deflect by saying "I'd like to learn more about the role first." Once an offer is made, key elements include researching market rates through tools like Glassdoor and PayScale, knowing your value, letting the employer name a number first or anchoring with a higher figure, and negotiating total compensation rather than only base pay. When you must give a number, either say you are flexible and would like to understand the full scope of the role first, or give a range where your target is the bottom number, and never name a number below your target.
Beyond base salary, you can negotiate total compensation, which includes a signing bonus, annual bonus, stock options or equity, vacation days, remote work flexibility, a professional development budget, title, start date, relocation assistance, performance review timing, and severance terms. When you do anchor, start higher than your target but within a justifiable range, support your anchor with data on market rates and your specific achievements, and avoid round numbers. When faced with a lowball offer, respond by expressing enthusiasm for the role, presenting market data supporting a higher range, highlighting your unique qualifications, and politely asking "how did you arrive at this number?," which opens dialogue without being confrontational. Never accept the first offer.
Some employers use the exploding offer, a very short deadline designed to pressure quick acceptance; counter it by explaining that you need reasonable time to make an important decision, requesting an extension (which most employers will grant for a few days), and being prepared to walk away if pressured unfairly. In salary negotiation, your BATNA is typically your current job, another offer, or self-employment; a competing job offer is the strongest BATNA, but even without one, research market rates and be clear about your walk-away point to negotiate from strength.
Business deal negotiations share many of these dynamics but add several distinct elements. Preparation for a business deal should include understanding both companies' financials, identifying deal-breakers for each side, researching comparable deals, preparing a term sheet draft, determining your BATNA, identifying multiple variables for logrolling, and assembling a team with complementary skills. Common terms negotiated in business deals include price or valuation, payment terms, non-compete clauses, intellectual property rights, warranties and representations, indemnification, governance and control, earnout provisions, closing conditions, termination clauses, and dispute resolution mechanisms. An earnout, in particular, is a contractual provision where additional payments are made to the seller based on the business achieving certain future performance milestones; it bridges the gap between the buyer's and the seller's valuations and aligns incentives after the acquisition closes.