Episode Details

Here’s a question that keeps salespeople up at night: How do you ask for more compensation when you’re getting competitive external job offers without sounding like you’re issuing an ultimatum?

That’s the question posed by Brady from Arkansas. Brady’s been getting legitimate job offers from recruiters, and he’s wondering how to leverage these opportunities into better compensation at his current company without burning bridges or coming across as disloyal.

If you’ve ever found yourself in this position, you know it’s a delicate dance. You want to be paid what you’re worth, but you also don’t want to destroy the relationships and goodwill you’ve built. So how do you navigate this conversation?

The Right Way to Have the Conversation

If you’re getting external job offers from legitimate companies with strong brands, the key is in how you frame the conversation with your boss.

Here’s the approach: “I really like working here, and I want to stay at this company. I love it. But I’ve got another company out there that’s a good company. They’re a great brand, they’re well known, and they’re making this job offer to me at a significantly higher level of compensation. It’s hard for me to say no to that. I feel like I need to bring this to you before I make a decision because I like working here.”

Notice what you’re NOT saying. You’re not walking in with an ultimatum saying, “If you don’t give me this, I’m leaving.” Instead, you’re saying, “I want to stay here. I like it here. I’m just in a situation where they’re offering me enough that it’s turning my head and I’m looking their way.”

This approach keeps the door open for a productive conversation about what might be possible without threatening your current employer or damaging your relationship.

When Loyalty Actually Matters

Now, before you go schedule that meeting with your boss, you need to ask yourself a hard question: Do you owe this company some loyalty?

If you were down on your luck, lost a job, and they came along and gave you something that saved you, you probably owe them some loyalty for that. Not forever, but there’s a little bit of honor in not just jumping to the next place immediately.

You also need to think about your resume. If you’ve just got there and a year later you’re jumping to another place, that’s on your resume. And believe it or not, even in today’s world, that still means something. I won’t hire people who jump from job to job every year. I don’t care how good they are because they’re probably going to jump again.

So think long term: Am I demonstrating to a future employer that I’m worth investing more money in? The answer is yes when you gave them three years of your life, performed at a really high level, and now you’re going to leverage that to go level up elsewhere.

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