Salary Negotiation Tips Turning Bonus into Salary

Salary Negotiation Tips Turning Bonus into SalarySalary Negotiation Tips Turning Bonus into SalaryEditors bedrngnise Salary expert Jack Chapman and Ladders want to help you negotiate the best deal you can. You can e-mail us your salary negotiation questions or situations or use salaryQ to submit them via Twitter. Due to the volume of inquiries, we may not be able to respond to all questions submitted.Q Ive received an offer of $135K kusine, performance beigabe potential (25%), and a $6K/year travel stipend. My ideal base salary is $140K+. If I factor in the potential bonus and available stipend, technically the offer does get to a $140K+ salary, but I would like more of the salary guaranteed going in. I like the company and do not want to adversely affect the existing offer for a few thousand dollars. Is there a negotiating strategy that will allow me to politely feel out if there is potential for any of the bonus (25%) or travel stipend to be turned into base salary?A All those term s are negotiable, however you need to respect the nature of a bonus it is deliberately not guaranteed you earn it by having great performance and helping the company to reach their goal. Therefore, asking for the bonus to be turned into salary is tantamount to saying, Well, I dont want this money contingent on me doing a good job- I just want the money.If you are going to ask, ask in a way that doesnt give the impression that youre not confident youll perform well enough to earn the bonus. When you get the offer, say something such as, Its a great offer.Make sure the offer is firm first, because its a sensitive area you dont want to be mistaken for not having confidence you can do the job or you could affect the offer you already have.As long as youre confident the company will deliver on its promise, its better to leave the bonus as is. But if you do want to try to negotiate it, say, Thanks for the offer. When I compare it with the competition, it seems fair. Im very confident that Ill have the kind of performance youre looking for to achieve the bonus. But other positions offer a little more in firm salary and a little less in contingent salary, so Im wondering if thats negotiable. For instance, could we add an extra $5k in salary and make up for that in bonus?Develop a reason that is not performance-based For my own cash flow needs and budgeting, it would help. Is that something that is doable? You have to be careful youre not sending a message that you dont feel confident. So, if you think the money will work out roughly the same, dont mess with it.Next weeks question How much are benefits actually worth?