When not negotiating is the best negotiation move
Ever feel like you need to negotiate every little perk or benefit to maximize your offer?
Hi there,
Ever feel like you need to negotiate every little perk or benefit to maximize your offer?
Sometimes, that strategy backfires—and here’s a real-life example to prove it.
The $3K Benefit That Could’ve Cost $40K
A senior product manager we worked with was laser-focused on one specialized parental benefit worth about $3K/year.
But when we mapped out her priorities, we noticed:
Parental Benefits (~$3K/year)
Work Flexibility
Base Salary
Growth Path
The Catch
By asking for an off-menu benefit:
HR approvals would be needed.
Policy exceptions would be requested.
Multiple decision-makers would weigh in.
Weeks of back-and-forth would go by.
Translation:
This one perk could eat up her biggest negotiation currency—her leverage.
The Pivot
Instead, we shifted our negotiation toward base salary.
In 48 hours, we landed her a $40K increase—enough to self-fund the parental benefit for 13 years, plus have plenty left over for other priorities.
No complicated exceptions. No HR hoops. Just a straightforward offer increase.
The Lesson
Your leverage is limited. Spend it where it counts most.
If you’re pushing for too many custom perks or borderline “wish list” items, you might lose momentum for the bigger-ticket things—like salary and flexibility—that truly move the needle in your career (and your wallet).
To be clear, we believe you should always negotiate (unless the payout is not worth the couple minutes or hours spent negotiating). But make sure you negotiate the right things first.
This is why the first thing we do when we start working with you is ask what your priorities are, dig deeper into what those priorities are truly about, and devise a negotiation strategy that best supports your ultimate goals.
The parental benefit the client thought they wanted was ultimately about making more money. We assessed that the better way to go about achieving that goal was to ask for a higher cash compensation rather than reimbursement for the specific parental benefit. And it paid out over 13x.
Are you making $150K+ and facing a big negotiation?
Book a free call with us.
In just one conversation, we can potentially help you add five to six figures to your next offer—without the weeks of red tape and policy exceptions.
Here’s to focusing on what truly matters!
Thanks,
Gerta & Alex
Co-founders of YourNegotiations.com
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