(Image: Thinkstock)

The old adage of being “overworked and underpaid” still rings true for many of today’s professionals.  Honestly speaking, no one ever thinks they’re being paid enough. But the reality is that many professionals aren’t paid what they deserve, and work with employers for years with no pay increase.  Now that cost-of-living increases have become a thing of the past, the desire for a higher salary is often justified but oftentimes not satisfied.

Most professionals don’t have the courage to ask for a raise, feeling grateful just to have a job. But, find the courage to ask for what you deserve, and take these key steps to do just that:

• Do a self-evaluation. What has your track record been since you started with the company?  Have you been late often?  Do you complete tasks on time?  How does your work compare with that of your colleagues?  Have you gone above and beyond or just done the bare minimum?  These are all factors to consider before asking for a raise.  Then, document a list of your accomplishments, productivity, and cost savings to present to your employer during the meeting.  It’s also a good idea to bring in your past employee evaluations, which indicate the employer’s satisfaction with your performance and work ethic.  Build a case for yourself by finding as much qualitative and quantitative evidence as possible to support your claim for deserving a higher salary.  You want to be sure that your request for a raise is based primarily on your performance, and not just the holes in your pockets.
• Research the market pay rates for your job. It’s not very smart to ask for $50,000 for a job that pays only $35,000, even in the best markets.  You’ll want to research the average, lowest, and top pay grades for your position.  Be sure to take into consideration your location, levels of education and experience when doing your research.  Websites such as Salary.com and Salaryexpert.com offer easy-to-use tools for salary calculation.  Then, establish a salary increase goal that is well-supported by your research and ideally indisputable by your employer.
• Have a backup plan. While your accomplishments and thorough research should win your employer over, there are often times when companies and organizations either aren’t willing or financially able to pay you what you deserve.  This is when it becomes your responsibility to take matters into your own hands.  This might mean that you’ll have to make tough choices.  You may decide to look for a higher salary elsewhere, find a part-time job, or start that small business you’ve always dreamed about.

Your schedule, family, and community obligations will determine which route is best for you to consider.  A single mother with two small children probably wouldn’t consider taking a part-time night job.  She might, however, look into a home-based business where she can earn additional income.  Maybe you’ve got a hobby that can make you some extra cash.  Or, you might be ready to take a step out on faith and leave your employer altogether.  It doesn’t really matter what your plan is.  What’s most important is that you have one.

A capable and skilled professional should never feel obligated to continue working for an employer without proper compensation. You deserve the best salary, and you shouldn’t give up until you get it!

DeMaurice Smith (Image: File)

DeMaurice Smith has always been confident.  So much so that as the newly elected president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and overnight confidante to its 1,900 locked out members, he doesn’t bat an eye at the notion of being a relative outsider now entrusted with rescuing the sport from itself.

Then again, his ability has long rated as impressive.  How else can you explain how the grandson of a sharecropper could rise to the position of having Barack Obama and Eric Holder on speed dial?

“There isn’t a day when I don’t understand the pressures of this job,” said the 46-year-old Smith, who left the prestigious D.C. law firm Patton Boggs to assume his latest post.  “But then you stack them up against my grandfather [and] everything pales.  There were days when he was thinking: ‘How am I going to feed my 14 kids? Are we getting a fair deal from the land owner?  How are my children going to get out?’  Now, that’s pressure.”

Read more at The Atlanta Post …

Follow these steps to get more service for less money.

Recently, my brother decided to upgrade his Droid. Since I’ve been in the market for a new phone, I decided to see what this Droid hype is about and take his old smartphone to give it a test run. Since I was already up for a renewal and I’d need to upgrade my data plan, I decided to negotiate with my provider in an effort to reduce my monthly bill. The plan worked. I received one month free, an additional 100 text messages for two years, free, and a $50 credit on the account with a one year renewal. Not so bad, although I think I could’ve held out for more. So, here’s what I learned about the best way to negotiate a phone contract.

Go in with a plan – When it comes to your phone service, let the provider know what your needs are. Which do you use more, text messages or do you mostly talk? I knew it was impossible to talk down the price of the data plan ($29.99), but I’m a texter and barely use the entire 700 talk minutes I already have. In this case, additional free text messages were more enticing. Also, keep a list of a least three providers that are offering more attractive plans or services than your current provider and feel free to discuss this with the customer service representative.

Talk to a manager – The customer service representative already offered one month free, but it wasn’t enough. Don’t hesitate to ask to speak to a manager. When I asked to do so, the representative told me I would just receive the same deal. Don’t get discouraged, stick to your guns and insist on speaking to a manager. After letting the manager know my options, needs, and my loyalty to the company, we eventually worked out a deal with 100 bonus texts for two years. But it still wasn’t enough. I told the manager I’d have to think about it because the deal is still not great. That’s when he threw in the $50 credit.

Be cordial but firm – Often times when it comes to negotiating it can feel like ‘them vs. me.’ But the adage is true, and if you’re looking to catch flies, whip out the honey and put down the vinegar. Be pleasant, confident and firm–no attitude. Everyone needs an ego stroke every now and then so let the customer service rep know what the provider’s great points of service are. But also mention where other companies come up strong, and where your current provider comes up short.

Go for broke – Ask for more than you want and let the provider talk you down. In hindsight, I would’ve said, since I text a lot and this data plan is pushing my bill up, contingent upon my renewal, I’d like three months free, 150 additional text messages free for two years and a $100 credit. I would’ve then pushed for the manager to meet me halfway. But this is a lesson for next year.

Document it – Once you’ve come to an agreement, document everything; date, time, manager’s name and if possible, the manager’s contact information. Also, make sure a note stating the conditions of your agreement is attached to your account.

What is your negotiation strategy? What’s the best deal you’ve received on a phone bill? Which providers seem to be most flexible?

Renita Burns is a content producer/staff writer at BlackEnterprise.com

"Okay, okay! I'll stay late to finish the project!"

One of the most coveted skills in business is also the most elusive: the ability to persuade. Once you can get employees, current and prospective clients, investors, suppliers and other people key to your business success to not only agree to your terms, but to feel good about doing so, you are gold.

For answers, we turned to message strategist and jury selection expert Chris St. Hilaire, author of 27 Powers of Persuasion: Simple Strategies to Seduce Audiences & Win Allies, which will be published in September 2010. “True persuasion is not about arm-twisting or out-maneuvering your adversary,” says St. Hilaire. “It’s about the creation of consensus from conflict or indifference; taking an idea or a course of action and creating unity of purpose. These skills are crucial in business settings.”

St. Hilaire recommends four keys to improving your powers of persuasion in your business life, and beyond:

Focus on the goal to bring all sides together. “Focusing on the goal, stating it out loud and getting agreement upon it moves you closer to a solution from the get-go.  We go into meetings thinking we are all on the same page, but we rarely are,” St. Hilaire explains. “And as a result people talk past one another and many times begin to believe that the other person simply shares a different goal when in fact they just haven’t ‘mutualized’ the goal yet.  Also, when you get stuck in a process discussion going back to the goal brings you out of the minutia and many times results in new, more productive directions for the discussion.”

Third-party validation can sway the group in your favor. “Third party validation is something that all audiences want because they know you have a vested interest,” says St. Hilaire.  “In trials, in politics, in marketing and in the media they all use third parties to validate claims because they are perceived as less biased.  I’ve received many calls from reporters over the years saying ‘I need someone who will say this.’  They don’t want your opinion.  They want you to agree with them so they have third party validation to put their opinion into a story.”

Silence can be the most effective argument technique of all. “Silence, and being comfortable with it, allows you to take control of a room without seeming aggressive,” says St. Hilaire.  “Try it sometime.  Sit silently, comfortably – one of two things or both will happen.  First, if your listener is nervous they’ll add on and you’ll get to what they really think.  Second, some of the best solutions to problems come at the end of a statement, after they ‘seem’ finished.”

Use numbers to make your point meaningful. “People love to quantify things…it makes a point more official,” St. Hilaire observes.  “Using a statistic or two (don’t over ‘stat’ them) creates some official barometer for them to measure success.  It also creates the impression that there’s some official measurement involved.  You used to see it a lot in commercials where 9 out of 10 dentists surveyed prefer one toothpaste over another.  When you can, use a stat because 88% of all Americans will believe even a made up statistic.”

Payne-Nabors shares her business success and how she overcame challenges along the way.

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Contributor Angelique Westerfield speaks with Colleen Payne-Nabors, a “serial” entrepreneur who is the founder of six businesses and the owner of several others. However, Payne-Nabors is best known as the CEO and Founder of Mobile Cardiac Imaging (MCI) Diagnostic Center, a mobile medical screening company that is one of the largest privately and locally owned diagnostic centers in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Payne-Nabors has been celebrated as model of entrepreneurial achievement, earning such honors as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Business Person of the Year in 2007. Payne-Nabors was named Black Enterprise Innovator of the Year in 2003.

To learn more about Payne-Nabors’ story, check out her book, I Did It My Way… And It Worked!: Redefining The Art of Entrepreneurship.

VIDEO: See Payne-Nabor’s Entrepreneur of the Week profile on the Black Enterprise Business Report

Follow Payne-Nabors on Twitter.

Also on this week’s edition of The Urban Business Roundtable, our Executive Producer TaQuoya Kennedy speaks with entrepreneur and motivational speaker James Rick, author of Unleash Your Potential: The Secret for Revealing Your Hidden Power and founder of FullPotential.com, about mastering the art of negotiation. (Follow James Rick on Twitter.) Check the following posts for more on becoming an effective negotiator:

Now Read This: Know What Makes Them Tick

Negotiating With Suppliers

Also this week on UBR, I talked about our new Get Money weekly posts on the Small Business channel at BlackEnterprise.com, and offered tips for raising capital for your business. For more, read my post, “Get Money: 4 Keys to Raising Capital for Your Business.”

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, send me an e-mail at edmonda@blackenterprise.com or to me at Twitter or Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the editor-in-chief of BlackEnterprise.com and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each Wednesday for The UBR Morning Post, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

Take a lesson from sports and entertainment industry innovator Siegel.

Max Siegel has built a career as a ground-breaking marketing exec and attorney unafraid of the challenge of conquering unfamiliar territory. From talent agent representing the likes of superstar athletes Tony Gwynn and the late Reggie White, to music executive ushering gospel talents such as Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond into the Pop/R&B mainstream, to the highest ranking black executive in NASCAR as Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s president of global operations, Siegel has built an astonishing track record of succeeding as an outsider and transforming would-be adversaries into partners. Now CEO of sports and media firm Max Siegel Inc. and head of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity initiative, Siegel (along with co-author G.F. Lichtenberg) shares his formula for success in his book Know What Makes Them Tick: How To Successfully Negotiate Almost Any Situation.

Sharing life experiences beginning with a challenging childhood—marked by the death of his father, a neglectful and hostile stepmother, and a difficult reconciliation with his birth mother—Siegel explains how he survived and ultimately thrived (along the way earning undergraduate and law degrees at Notre Dame) by learning to build alliances with subordinates, peers, supervisors and competitors. In doing so, he developed mastery for successful negotiation with people for whom mutual interest was initially hardly conceivable. Know What Makes Them Tick is Siegel’s effort to break down the lessons of his experiences into principles that anyone can apply to their own personal and professional lives.

My verdict: Siegel hits the mark. In a time of increasing cultural diversity, a rapidly evolving global job market and potentially overwhelming entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities—not to mention constantly shifting personal relationships—Know What Makes Them Tick is a valuable guide to navigating an often confusing 21^st century landscape marked by both peril and possibility. The chapters “See Where You Want To Be, Not Where You Are” and “Use Your Outsider Advantage” alone are more than worth the price of the book and the time invested in reading it. And as a person who’s met Siegel (as you might guess, he’s been featured a few times in Black Enterprise magazine), I can vouch for the authenticity of the book’s voice. Never preachy, authoritative, yet respectful, down-to-earth and refreshingly, even surprisingly modest given his accomplishments, it’s all Max, all the time.

Whether you are a professional navigating the ever-shifting terrain of your career, or an entrepreneur trying to establish a profitable, productive and ultimately satisfying approach to competition and cooperation in the marketplace, I highly recommend Siegel’s book. Take my advice: Now read this.

First and foremost, it’s never advisable to accept a severance package right away — without reviewing your options. Most severance packages are offered and must be accepted during a certain timeframe. Depending on the situation, this time frame can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Take the full amount of time that you have been allotted in order to carefully consider the severance package. If you feel that there is room for negotiation, than there are certain aspects that you need to think about before you head to the negotiating table.

–Have you made significant contributions to the company during your tenure?

–Do you have a history of receiving good performance reviews?

–Did you have any special achievements or receive any special recognition for you work?

These are just a few of the questions that will help give perspective to what you have professionally contributed to your organization, as well as offer a solid starting point for negotiating, which can be a difficult process. If you feel uncomfortable negotiating on your own behalf, consider hiring an employment lawyer as an adviser. Bringing a lawyer into the fray might set your employer on edge and make negotiating more difficult, so make sure that all communication on the matter happens between you and your employer.

When negotiating, don’t just think in terms of money. There are other concessions that you should seek that are just as valuable. In addition to pay, extended health benefits and training are negotiable provisions, as well as outplacement services. Depending on the company, outplacement services can range from allowing you continued use of your office space to assistance in finding new employment. Part of your discussion can include how references for future employment will be handled, who should be contacted and what will be said.

Do keep in mind that the bigger the lay-off, the harder it will be to negotiate a better severance package. An employer may be concerned about setting the precedence for negotiating with other employees. If you lost your job through a mass lay-off, you may have to be content with what you were offered. It doesn’t hurt to seek counsel on how you should approach your severance. Whatever the case, make sure you understand the terms of your severance agreement. You are signing a legally binding document and not fully understanding the contract today could lead to trouble tomorrow.

RESOURCES

Severance Best Practices Lessen Litigation Risk

Negotiating Severance Agreements

What Are Your Options

“You can always negotiate a contract, whether that means lining through provisions or if it needs a complete redraft,” says David Wood, managing partner at Wood & Wood L.L.P. “That document is just an offer. You’re not obligated to agree to anything in there.”

When it comes to signing a contract, it’s important to go in with your guard up. After all, they are usually more favorable to the person offering the service or product, which indeed makes perfect sense. The need to read and understand any contract is most evident with the housing fiasco that helped to propel the nation to economic upheaval

Earlier this month I posted a piece on  how to read a mortgage. In a continuation of how to read the fine print, we’re going to be focusing on red flags and key phrases consumers should be aware of before entering an agreement.

What’s the termination clause? A termination clause, which explains the rights of the parties to cancel the contract, may just be your way out if things go awry. When it comes to property leases, an escape clause could potentially give a tenant the right to terminate a lease prior to its completion. Consumers should look at “what terms will allow you to walk away from the contract,” Wood says. Remember, “whatever is presented to you is just an offer. You can always negotiate a contract.” If you do not agree with the terms, present a deal that you will agree to. If neither party agrees to any negotiated terms, it may be a sign that the deal is no good, so don’t be afraid to walk away.

Have faith in returns. When making a large purchase, oftentimes sellers include “earnest money” or “good faith” provisions in contracts, where a buyer will put down money to show his or her intention of completing the deal, according to Investopedia. However, it’s imperative to be clear on terms governing such a provision, Wood says. “Is it refundable upon the terms and conditions of the contract being met?” In some cases, buyers could lose some or all of the money put down if the conditions appear to not have been met.

Understand the repossession clause. For Wood, calls pertaining to contracts usually come once a problem arises. And when it comes to repossession, the cars are far from few. “I think the biggest flaw is people don’t even know there is a repossession clause. He says, many used car buyers aren’t aware that once repossessed, the car can be resold at an auction with the dealership can charge the former owner the difference between what is made from the auction and what the former owner still owes.”

Review. Review. Review. Obtain a copy of the contract for review, days before it needs to be signed. “Take two days and actually read the entire document. Highlight what you don’t understand,” Wood says. From there, use your resources to gain a better understanding of the terms. Talk to friends and family who might be familiar with the subject matter or such a contract. Consider speaking to an attorney or Googling the information online. Also, ask the person giving you the contract to clarify anything you don’t understand.

Contemplate the “what ifs.” Once you’ve read over the document, think about potentially harmful situation that could occur once the document is signed. If you’re moving in with your best friend and only one name is on the lease, what will happen if your best friend can no longer make the payments? Think about everything that can go wrong, and how the contract may or may not benefit you given such a scenario.

Renita Burns is the editorial assistant at BlackEnterprise.com.