Negotiating your salary at a new job or with your current employer can be incredibly nerve-wracking, particularly for people who haven't done it before.
It's a necessary activity, however, since avoiding it can cost as much as $1 million over the course of your career, according to an analysis by Salary.com. But knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
At the same time, a lot of the advice on how to negotiate effectively can be contradictory or cliché. That's why we've looked at the research and collected some of the surprising strategies and techniques that can lead to a higher salary.
Think of the negotiation as a competition.
At the end of the day, in most salary negotiations, you're going after something the other party doesn't want to give. That makes it a competition, and viewing it that way leads to better results, according to research from George Mason Professor Michelle Marks and Temple Professor Crystal Harold.
People who use a competitive strategy, by identifying their goals and being willing to push for them, end up with significantly higher salaries than those who are accommodative or compromising.
Always use precise numbers in offers and counter-offers.
Most people are familiar with the advice to start with a high number, but new research from Columbia Business School suggests that a precise number makes a more powerful anchor in negotiations. That means replacing at least a few of the zeros in a round offer like $100,000 and going for $104,500.
According to Malia Mason, the author of the study, a precise number leads the other party to think that you've done research to arrive at a very particular number, which makes them think you're likely correct.
Open with something personal, and your negotiating partner will respond in kind.
In an experiment where Kellogg and Stanford students negotiated by email, those who shared unrelated personal details over the course of the negotiation ended up getting significantly better results than those who kept things to name, e-mail, and the dry monetary details.
Opening up a bit sends a signal that you're trustworthy, according to Wharton professor Adam Grant, and makes it more likely that they'll reciprocate.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider