I’ve spent almost a decade honing my negotiation skills to get my clients network and digital television series deals, record label and publishing agreements, brand sponsorship and partnership agreements with Apple Music, Youtube, Pandora, Nike, Pottery Barn and more. I negotiate not just for what they deserve but what they are truly worth and I don’t mind passing the wealth on to my readers!
Click the video and see the transcript below to learn how you can easily negotiate like a pro using the 7 tips I use as a lawyer to negotiate top dollar and amazing deals for my clients.
Want to get started determining your worth? Check out my magic equation to getting paid your worth HERE
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00 – 1:07]
Hi this is Shay M. Lawson Esq and I am an intellectual property attorney helping creative entrepreneurs legally protect their passion and profits. I have been doing a series on the blog called “negotiate like a boss”. So if you go to shaymlawson.com you will find tips on how to negotiate like a boss. I negotiate from my clients on an everyday basis whether it is my music industry clients and I am negotiating higher royalty rates or higher dance fees or my social media clients where I am negotiating brand deals and sponsored post and endorsement opportunities. Negotiation is a part of everyday life and the skills that I am going to teach you today are something that you can use across the board. So whether you have a career 9 to 5 and you're negotiating your raise at the end of the year, if you are a side hustler launching your business and you are figuring out how to set your rates or you are already knocking out the park and you want to go ahead and up the ante a little bit. These seven tips will be for you. So let's go ahead and get started.
[1:08 –1:38]
First be clear on what it is you want. And before I even dive in I want you to really take the time to just listen to this video and listen to the points. The notes are over shaymlawson.com tips to negotiate. So if you go to shaymlawson.com/blog/tipstonegotiate you will find all the notes for the video today. So just listen in and just let it marinate and know that you can find the information later.
[1:39 –2:26]
So tip number one is be clear. Be clear on whether or not you should even explore this opportunity. When someone comes to the table with an offer for you, should you even explore it? Should you even step into the negotiation? or should you just walk away? If you decide that you are going to engage in the negotiation you want to be clear on, why is this worth your time? Why is this something that you are interested in? and why do you want something other than what's being offered? When you are clear on why you want something other than what's being offered, you're clear to both yourself and the person you're negotiating with that you're not being a diva. You're not being petty over pennies you're simply asking for what you're worth.
[2:27 –3:46]
So number two, know who's on the other side and what they can actually deliver. Are you talking to the right person to even get what it is that you want? And so sometimes you need to dig a little deeper. I'd say ask, Is there an ultimate decision maker? is there somebody that you will need to take this back to? because you don't want to get your hopes up in a negotiation where someone is promising you something and then at the end of the discussion it's like oh I'm going to have to take this back to my team I'm going to have to take this back to my boss and they weren't the person who had the deciding factor in the first place. So you want to know who you are across the table with. Because sometimes when you do have someone who reports up the ladder you can almost feed them a script of I know you have to take this to your boss. I know you'll have to talk about this with H.R. If you increase my salary but here are the reasons why I'm asking what I'm asking for. I know you have to go back to your client and get this increase in the budget approved but these are the reasons, it costs more than the average service. So you want to be clear on who you're talking to? and what they can deliver to? or who they report to? so that you know where you are in the negotiation table and how to really interact in the negotiation.
[3:47 –4:43]
Tip number three, jump the gun and then fall back. So the number one thing whether it is careers or endorsement opportunities or things like that is that people rarely want to talk numbers and people rarely want to talk numbers. You know when you are interviewing for jobs it's Hey what are you making right now. Or if you are being approached by a brand, how much would you charge for a post? right. And so if you don't really have an idea yet go ahead and jump the gun and say hey I'm really excited about this opportunity and exploring this job with you, Can you let me know with the salary ranges for this? I would love to partner with your brand. I would love to work with your company. Can you give me an idea of a budget that you have for services like mine? So you kind of get them to play their cards first so tip number three jumped the gun and then fallback.
[4:44 -6:18]
Four, do your research and come prepared. So now that you've gotten them to give their numbers ultimately at some point you will have to give your prices. And so you want to do your research and you want to come prepared at the end of the year is an amazing opportunity to really look back and say What have I done this year in the workplace? where have I knocked it out the park? And that's why my value has increased. What certifications do I have? What clients have I worked with in the past year that have increased my value in the marketplace? and what is the value for a person like me or services like what I offer in the marketplace so that I can say hey I'm competitive to people with the same experience or hey the average person is charging this and I have two more years of experience or I have this or you know certification or this type of thing. So you want to do your research and really come prepared to justify once again, why you're not being petty but simply asking for what you're worth. I have a whole blog on the magic equation on determining your worth over on shaymlawson.com, so if you go to https://www.shaymlawson.com/blog/negotiatelikeaboss2 you'll be able to find the magic equation that will help you kind of determine that number when you're justifying your price increase, your salary whatever it is in your negotiation but just no bottom line it centers around doing your research and really taking a tally of the things that you've accomplished.
[6:19 –7:12]
So that actually brings me into number five. Why you deserve what you deserve and why? And a lot of times we don't want to brag on ourselves or a lot of times we take for granted the things that we've done over the course of the year. But when you are coming to the negotiation table this is not the time to be humble and I don't mean that in the sense of negotiate like a jerk and talk to somebody like they're below you but I mean it in the sense of. Don't be shy about what you bring to the table, what makes you stand out amongst your peers? why you deserve this thing that you are asking for? So if you've done the work in number four and you've done your research, you've tallied your accomplishments, you know what you deserve and why, you know why you stand out above your peers so be absolutely clear on that and don't be ashamed to let yourself shine in negotiations.
[7:13 – 9:30]
Six, anticipate with the other person is going to say. So you want to play devil's advocate right. As a lawyer I spend a lot of my time thinking about the worst to be honest and to think about what could this person say, how could this go wrong? How could this not work out for me the way that I want it? Where could I find a meeting in the middle? and so you want to anticipate from the other person's perspective the things that they're going to question, the issues that they're going to encounter the know and be adequately prepared to answer the No. And so even if they come back and they say hey listen we know that you absolutely have the qualifications to get 100000 in here but we just don't have it in the budget to get you above 80. Now think about the intangible things that you will now ask for. If they can't meet you monetarily, do the same thing If you are creative. So if this is a client that you really want to work with and they can't meet you at your budget or your price. Is it worth your time to explore maybe asking for a warm introduction to two colleagues who they know need your services and can probably pay at your full rate where it's like hey client I will give you what deal this time on this service because I'm super excited about the project. Are there other people in your network that you would be willing to do a warm introduction for me that you think could pay my full price. And that is the true barter. So that's how you're getting your value. There are plenty of people out there who may not be able to pay your full price but the project may be worth your time and they may have some people in their network who may have the ability to pay your price. Similarly if you are in the workplace negotiating, they might not have it in the budget to increase your salary but could you get telework days. Could you get the company to cover certifications that you're looking for or attending a conference. Things that will boost you personally but will also benefit the job. And don't come in the form of an actual salary increase. So anticipate what a no might be and how you'll fill the gaps so ultimately get to what you're looking for.
[9:31 –11:33]
Number seven, and this is a really nuanced tactic in negotiation. It is silence. Be prepared. This means that you are putting your final offer on the table. You are not backing down. And if they are not prepared to give you what you are looking for, you are willing to walk away. And instead of going tit for tat and back and forth you just cut the conversation short and just say hey you know what I'm going to take some time to explore my options and I'll circle back to you and give the person silence. There is nothing scarier in a negotiation than not knowing where the other side stands. If they were exploring an option where you've now put on the table your true worth and somebody is shaking in their boots hoping that another person doesn't really offer it to you before they do or just the unknown. Right. But this is a true gamble because sometimes the silence will lead to the end of the negotiations, so you have to be willing to risk it. But a lot of times that silence will lead to someone wanting to close the deal with you and more times than not coming at least if they don't give you what they want coming a lot closer than you were when you're going tit for tat and this goes for a lot of things in life when you kind of just like fall back and let it come to you instead of chasing chasing chasing. A lot of times that's when it comes to you because it's like hey I'm not pressed for this. I know my worth, I'm not being a diva. I've put all of the evidence on the table why this makes sense for me to get the thing that I'm asking for. Either you can give it to me or not but I won't chase you for it. And that's the honest truth. And so when someone sees that hey they're not bluffing they're willing to walk away from this smaller more times than not they're willing to meet you in the middle.
[11:34 –11:58]
And so that is my seven tips to negotiating like a boss in life whether you are in corporate America or an entrepreneur and you are looking to increase share prices or go after new clients or work with corporate brands. These are the tactics that I use as an attorney on an everyday basis to negotiate from our client.
[11:59 – 13:28]
But here's a bonus. Walk away. You gotta know you're drop dead, right. And there's nothing worse than taking what you know you didn't deserve. Taking less than what you want it. And then it being a headache. If someone does not see your true value in the first place, what makes you think that they are going to respect you once you get into the business relationship with them, once you get into the workplace with you. If they didn't see your value before you enter the workplace before you got the job, before they signed you on to provide your service they're not going to respect you while you're providing your service or while you were on the job. It's going to be a constant battle and you are going to sit there and how many times have you thought this. This was not where they are not paying me enough for this. If you have ever thought they're not paying me enough for this then that means that you should have walked away from the negotiation. That is the bonus. Save yourself the heartache, save yourself the frustration, save yourself going down the path of starting over again to really get with you one but just walking away being willing to walk away from things that are not worth your time because you will by sticking to your guns you will ultimately attract what it is that you want the things that are worth your time and also set the standard for your value in the market.
[13:29 –14:04]
So that's it. I hope you enjoyed these tips, if you know somebody else who needs to learn how to negotiate like a boss share this video, press subscribe, go on over to the blog if you didn't already go grab the notes go to shaymlawson.com, go over to the blog and tips to negotiate like a boss and all the notes are there and till next time I hope that you are securing the bag with ease and protecting your passions and profits. And I'm more than happy to help you along the way.