Making “no” your friend

“Oh my god, they said “No”!! I am so excited!”

my client told me a few weeks ago about the salary negotiation she was engaged in with a company for a potential role.  And I shared her joy: this was GREAT news!

This may seem surprising if being rejected sounds like your worst nightmare, but hear me out.

If you don’t get a “no” in response to your first offer in any negotiation, you got what negotiation experts call a variation of “the winner’s curse”, ie that sinking feeling that getting what you asked for isn’t a good deal for you after all. In short: it means you left money on the table.

So getting a “no” is a fabulous thing, because it means you haven’t made that classic mistake of having asked for too little. My client knew this well (because I repeat this ad nauseum to the ladies in my program) and so she was happy to receive that rejection of her ambitious anchor in the salary negotiations for a General Counsel position. In the past, she would have winced if she had been rejected. In fact, she argued she would never have received it in the first place, low-balling herself pre-emptively out of fear she would get that “no”.

Having done the mindset work I asked her to do in the run up to these negotiations, this time she realised what a great first step this was. “Bring it on!” she told herself.

Shortly after, the new company counter-offered with a slightly lower number, making up for the decrease with a bonus set-up that was interesting. After a few more chats, they settled on a number that made both sides very happy.

What can we learn from this badass WINner?

Embrace the “no”. Expect the “no”. Get excited about the “no”.

Say it with me: “no” is where the fun starts!

If this is not quite how you feel right now, ping me to see if I can help you over this and other negotiation hurdles so you can receive the success you deserve.