The Art of Negotiation for Women in Business

Have you ever been in this situation...You accepted a salary or fee that was less than your worth?

My first real experience with negotiation was when I was hired to be the first female financial consultant in the local office of a major investment house 20 years ago.

The structure for this Fortune 500 company was to offer training and salary for two years, but if the financial consultant brought in business beyond the salary, they were awarded bonuses. So, there was an opportunity to make more, much more.

I was taken by surprise when they asked me what salary I required. I assumed it was set for everyone. The risk was that if I set it too high and didn't succeed pretty soon in covering it, the possibility of them letting me go increased. I let it intimidate me.

I was so naive, I set the salary low so as to avoid the risk. In retrospect, so what if I didn't achieve it? At least I would have gotten paid a decent wage while learning whether I could succeed in the business. Instead, I suffered from "low wage-itis" for six months.

Later, I learned that I had set the salary at exactly 1/2 of what the men asked. Fortunately for me, I not only met my salary but exceeded it many times.

What's interesting is that I've heard this same kind of story from many women who went on to earn six figures once they learned how to negotiate. In Secrets of Six Figure Women the author interviewed many women who had done the same thing as I but learned from experience.

This begs the question....why? Is there some reason men instinctively understand how to negotiate and women don't? Or is it that we don't value ourselves highly enough? Is it cultural or social upbringing that causes this? What causes some of us to feel as if we are worth less?

Perhaps we don't know how to value ourselves.

Terry Dockery, noted Organizational Psychologist, says "Negotiation is a classic example of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The starting point for negotiation skills is the person's sense of self worth--people essentially negotiate an agreement that reflects what they believe they deserve."

Regardless of the reasons though, women need to learn to put a fair value on their work or they will never match the income levels of men.

Next time you have to negotiate for dollars, try doing what the men do. Name a figure above your real target to begin negotiations. You just might get what you asked for!

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