A: Yeah I have several thoughts.

1. 1)Don’t use the same negotiator if someone else in the building is using them as well.  When an agent has several clients in the building every time they go to bat for one of you they are also to a lesser extent going to bat for the other clients in the building.  In other words the agent doesn’t want to screw up their relationship with your GM or the Cluster GM (if applicable) so they have a tendency to negotiate lightly on your behalf.  It’s even worst for instance if one of the other clients in the building is an above average money maker and you are in the average category.  An agent will not push hard for your deal (let’s say $150K) if his other client is in the $1M category.  Think about it... would you screw up your chance at 5 - 10% of a million bux to push hard for 5 - 10% of 150K?
   

2. 2)If you’re not negotiating a deal of $400K or more I wouldn’t use an agent at all!  Negotiating is not as hard as you think and doing so in an amiable manner sometimes strengthen your relationship with your manager.  They respect you more.  Let’s say for instance you are in the 100K salary range and your agents fee is 5% of the total deal.  That means for someone to negotiate your new deal it’ll cost you around $5K.  For you to recoup that cost you’ll have to get a pay increase of at least 5% just to make what you’re making now and pay your agent 5%.  HELLO!  You’re good enough to talk on the radio in front of thousands of people, you can certainly spend 15 minutes with your manager simply asking for what you feel is fair... right?
   

3. 3)Here’s a better five thousand dollar idea.  Go to the library and check out this book.  You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen.   This book is a fun easy read and will change your life and relationships in it.  If you have to buy... I saw it on Amazon.com for $2.20 used which is still a lot less than $5000.  So there’s that.
   

Negotiating for your new salary isn’t that hard and you’ll find out your true worth to your station in the process. 

For more on this subject go to -

3% Raise

sean@seandemery.com