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I radically revised this rule for this 6th edition. It used to be: “Let Them Go first.” It’s now: “Let Them Go First Unless...”

Good negotiations achieve a happy medium between your ideal compensation package and what the employer is willing to offer. But being at the higher end of the medium is better for you than being at the lower end.

NEWS: Recent studies show that the final negotiated amount on this common ground tends to end up closer to the person who goes first.

The thinking behind the original Salary-Making Rule #2: “Let Them Go First,” was that you minimize the risk of botching the negotiation by coming in too high or too low. An added reassurance is that if the employer goes first, you have an offer. You have no doubt they’ve reached the make-an-offer point when it’s then okay to engage in money talk. You won’t go lower than the prospective employer’s initial offer, and following it with your researched response could add even more to the compensation package. All that is still true.

Not everyone wants to opt for the security of a firm offer that you get by going second. But, if you can tolerate a small degree of risk, research says you’ll do better if you go first.

This makes it doubly important that you wait until you’re sure they’re ready to make an offer. If they’re still window-shopping and you start negotiations with a high number you can bump yourself out of the contest. Salary-Making Rule #1 tells you to avoid serious money talk until they’re making you an offer. Ask them, “Are we ready to explore compensation, or is there still some other consideration about hiring me we need to handle?”

Whether you go first or second, use Salary-Making Rule #3 to reply to the employer’s offer. Rule #3 is “repeat the number or the top of the range, and be quiet.”

In the moments of silence that ensue, think and compare the offer with your own trio of numbers you brought with you: Ideal, Satisfactory, and No-go.

I = Ideal. The biggest package you can imagine that still passes the “laugh test.”

S = Satisfactory. A salary that would have you feeling okay and satisfied about going to work.

N = No-go. Any offer below this is unacceptable; you’ll go back to the drawing board to see if there’s other compensation that can make up the difference.

Read The Book To Learn

• Principles behind good Salary Negotiations

• What’s true and what’s not about “The one who goes first loses”

• The full overview of negotiations regarding who goes first

• Fuller explanation of the benefits of going first

• Fuller explanation of the dangers of going first

• An example of “You Go First”

• An example of “You Go Second”

• Unique nature of Salary Negotiation vs. ordinary negotiations

• How “anchoring” functions in negotiations