Warning, warning Will Robinson! Focus on your Worth, not your Need

In my last blog, I promised to share some crucial consideration about your worth versus your need when it comes to negotiating. This is such a crucial concept and I’m surprised at how many people haven’t thought about it strategically. Here’s what I mean: say you’ve determined what you need for living expenses, including a car payment that just went up $300 a month. Because of that purchase, you’re now having trouble balancing everything so you think, “I need to ask for a raise.”

Warning, warning Will Robinson! (some of you will get this reference) Your need is not tied to your worth and it’s not your employer’s job to keep your pay commensurate with the financial decisions you’re making.

However, if you’ve determined that your value (your worth!) is higher than what you’re being paid, then you have some leverage, so let’s talk about how to show that your value has increased.  I want for you to think about how you’ve increased your value in ways that you’ve helped save money in some way, make money, improve quality, or improve image. These are all areas that increase your value in the eyes of the decision maker. It may take a little bit of digging to figure out what it is that you have done that increased your value. Take your time and do some thinking about that. I know it’s also helpful sometimes to talk to someone to figure out what that might be.

Recently I spoke with a client to help him articulate some of his value. When we started, he had some very general statements around the value that he brought to the organization. Things like, “I help to bring the business to the capacity of what we could handle.” I pressed him further on how exactly did he do that and he talked about implementing promotional activities, how he did in-depth research and conversations with customers to understand what they valued and aligned things support toward that. We were able to get really specific about what he did to increase the value to the organization and what that increase looks like specifically.

If this kind of thing is hard for you to do on your own, we offer free consultations where we can talk about how to help you articulate your successes. It’s a free 15 minute phone conversation and it will be helpful.

For now, though, challenge yourself to get specific about how you’ve added value, particularly in the areas that are most important to the decision makers you’re targeting. Aim to create a success database of at least 5 achievements showing increased value.

And in my next blog, I’ll share some specific negotiating strategies that can help you prove your worth and do it with confidence!