Hey Reader,

We get the following questions a lot:

• “Have you trained an AI on your negotiation framework?”
• “Can I just follow a template?”

This week on the Gentle Power Podcast (YouTube | Spotify | Apple), Gerta and I recorded a solo episode where we dove deep into why negotiations is not as straightforward as memorizing scripts on how to push back or ask for more.

We get the appeal. Clean template language would be easier for everyone involved, more scalable for us, and probably more efficient for you.

The problem is that negotiations don't really work that way.

Of course there are fundamental principles and patterns. But every real negotiation is unique in its own way: different people, different incentives, different timing, pressure points, cultures, and so on.

Negotiation is both a science and art. The art part is where most people get tripped up because it requires a level of intuition that's hard to learn by memorizing lines. That’s why we offer our clients unlimited support at all hours of the day, all days of the week, so we can be your human advisor, responding in real-time and steering the negotiation quickly and efficiently.

Listen to the full episode here (YouTube | Spotify | Apple), where we also went on a few side quests talking about unique and quirky aspects of the employee experience at Instagram/Meta, how different cultures negotiate (from American and Asian to Albanian and Dutch), and more.

KEY IDEAS

1. Principles will guide you, but context decides.

Take one of the most common rules we teach:

Do not give a preferred salary number.

There is a clear logic behind this. Every role has a budget ceiling, which we can pretty much never know (unless you have insider information you shouldn’t have). If you give a number below that ceiling, the best case scenario is that they might say yes, but now you’ve left money on the table. If you give a number above the budget ceiling, you risk pushing the company away or signaling that you'll be unhappy there even if you end up accepting a lower number.

So our default advice is simple:

Do not share a number.

But then the real world shows up, and there could be exceptions.

Imagine this situation: you have offers from Google and Meta, but you prefer Meta. Meta tells you the offer they gave you is their best and final.

Now your calculus changes.

If Google’s offer is much higher and Meta truly is your first choice, sharing a specific number with Google at this stage can sometimes make sense. Otherwise it could be hard for the conversation to move forward.

But the right move still depends on context. If there have only been a few rounds of back and forth with Meta, you may still want to avoid sharing a number.

And there are still many variations of this situation where the answer changes. This is where judgment matters.

2. Let company culture guide your tone.

Another variable people underestimate is company culture.

Some companies communicate very directly. Think Netflix or Amazon. Their style tends to be blunt and efficient. You can respond in a similar tone.

If they ask for a preferred salary, you might simply say:

“I don’t have a preferred number.”

Other companies operate with a softer communication style. Companies like Meta and Google fall into this category. The messaging tends to be more collaborative and indirect.

In those environments, you might soften your phrasing, something closer to:

“Let me think about that and come back to you.”

The underlying strategy is the same, but delivery changes.

Though these are generalizations about corporate cultures, they can be directionally useful.

Many people assume negotiation is purely logical. In practice it's also social where tone matters.

3. Leverage is highly dependent on your timing.

People love compensation data.

• “I know someone in that role and they make X.”
• “The market range says Y.”

Those data points can be interesting but not as useful as people think. As Gerta’s favorite quote on data goes, “If you torture data long enough, it will confess to anything”.

One of the biggest drivers of compensation is the company’s urgency to fill that role at the time that you're applying.

Let's say a role usually pays between $150K to $400K in total compensation. But now imagine the company has been trying to fill that role for six months and a major product launch is two months away.

If the right candidate appears, the company might stretch beyond its usual range to fill that seat before the product launch.

The opposite can also happen too: budgets shrink, headcount freezes, leadership priorities shift.

Two people in the same role at the same company can end up with very different comp packages simply because the context was different. Timing alone can move the entire negotiation.

This is why we advise that job seekers always apply to multiple roles at once, because even if you're the perfect candidate for a specific job, your timing may influence how much higher you can negotiate the offer.

Our Perspective

Negotiations can’t really be reduced to formulas or a list of tactics. That’s why when people ask if we recommend a book on negotiations, we're unable to name one that we fully stand behind.

This is one reason our work looks the way it does. When we support a client, we stay with them through the entire process, no matter how long it takes to sign a final offer. Calls any time of the day and night, private chats, voice memos, live prep before recruiter calls.

From the outside it might seem excessive. And believe us, it’s a lot of work.

But this is how we ensure the best possible results, with an average comp increase of nearly $100K. A negotiation can turn on how one ask is positioned, or even the phrasing of a single sentence.

This is also why fully productizing negotiation advice with AI is harder than people expect.

Templates help. Principles help. But someone still needs to read the room and read between the lines.

Best,

Gerta & Alex
​Co-founders, YourNegotiations.com

P.S. Are you job searching or have upcoming negotiations?

Book a free call with us, where we’ll learn more about your situation, offer some free tips, and explore if we’re a good fit to work together: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call​

P.P.S. Know someone interested in negotiations?

Send them our way and we’ll thank you with $500 for each person who becomes a client. No cap.

A quick intro or an email to alex@yournegotiations.com works.