You get di case. You don dey carry di bigger work since March, you sabi roughly wetin di market dey pay for am, and you don settle on one figure. Wetin remain na di email, and you don rewrite di email six times.
Version one na three lines and e feel too blunt. Version six na four paragraphs, e open by apologising for di length, and e bury di actual request somewhere near di bottom.
Na version one dey correct. Opening email no be di argument, na di door. Im only work na to put real conversation for calendar with your number already showing, so dat nobody go waste di first ten minutes of dat conversation dey try figure out wetin you want.
Four lines dey do dat. Di topic, di number, one reason wey ground for di work, and di date wey you want answer by. Everything else wey you write na preparation for di meeting, no be content for di email.
Wetin I really suppose write for email wey dey ask for more money?
Four lines and subject line wey name di topic. Line one talk wetin dis one be about, line two give di specific number or change, line three give one reason wey ground for di work instead of how you dey feel, and line four ask for reply by one date.
Na dis be di whole thing, and you fit take am.
Subject: My compensation for 2027
Hi Dana, I would like to talk about my compensation before the planning cycle closes.
I am asking for a base of $118,000, up from $104,000.
Since March I have owned the billing migration and the two integrations that came with it, which was the work of the role above mine, and the team has run without a lead since Priya left.
Could you let me know by Friday the 14th whether we can put twenty minutes in the calendar next week?
Read am back. E no reach hundred words, e easy to answer, and e no dey make di reader guess wetin you want.
Why four lines dey beat four paragraphs?
Because short email cheap to answer and long one expensive. Di person wey dey read am get full inbox, and every extra paragraph dey raise di chance say dem go move your message go "later", wey usually mean never.
Length dey leak too. Wall of context dey read like person wey dey argue with imself for public. E dey invite di reader make e argue with your justifications instead of to answer your actual request, and every reason wey you add na one more thing wey dem fit disagree with. One reason, wey ground for something wey dem fit see for di work, hard to dismiss pass five reasons wey you pile up because you dey defend yourself.
Research dey under dis matter. For one study of email negotiations wey di Program on Negotiation report, di people wey do best na dem wey manage di medium on purpose: dem make dia expectations plain, dem stay for close contact, and dem make offers wey cover more than one issue at a time. Clarity na di whole advantage of writing something down. Spend am.
One caution, because short no be di same as cold. Four lines go read like say you dey rough if you comot every human word, so keep di greeting, keep one warm sentence for di end, and let di shortness live for di middle where di request dey. Short and warm na di target. Short and sharp go just make di reader tense.
Make I put di number for di email or make I wait for di meeting?
Put di number for di email. To leave am out so dat una fit "discuss am face to face" dey sound polite but mostly e dey cost you, because di other side go arrive don already decide quietly wetin range dey on di table, and you go arrive with nothing anchored at all.
Specific figure for writing dey do two useful things. E set di reference point wey di rest of di conversation go adjust from, wey be wetin di research on anchoring keep dey find, and e let your manager do di boring internal work before una meet: check di band, ask finance, find out wetin really possible. People dey talk yes faster when you don make am possible for dem to prepare.
Precision dey help too. $118,000 dey land better pass "around $120,000", because precise number dey read like di result of process, and round number dey read like opening bid wey dey wait make dem cut am half.
Wetin I go write for di subject line?
Write di topic. "My compensation for 2027" or "Rate for the next project" or "Follow-up on the scope change." Never write "quick question", and never write anything wey dey hide wetin di message be about.
Subject line wey hide di topic dey make di email feel like ambush di moment dem open am, and e dey start di conversation with di reader small on guard. To name am plain dey do di opposite. E dey file di request as normal business matter instead of personal favor, and na normal business matter dey enter calendar.
Send am for morning of mid-week day if you fit choose. No be because of any trick, but because Tuesday morning inbox get space inside, and Friday afternoon inbox no get.
How I go follow up when reply no come?
Wait until di date wey you name don pass, then send three lines: your request for one sentence again, one new fact if you get one, and new date. No accusation, no "just circling back", and no apology say you dey follow up.
Most times when person no reply, e no be rejection. Na person wey read your message for corridor, plan to answer am, then something else pull am. Follow-up na favor you dey do dem, because e dey put di matter back for top of di pile.
If two follow-ups give you nothing, change di medium instead of writing more. Ask for fifteen minutes. Di thing wey nobody wan put for writing na often di thing wey dem go happily talk with mouth, and di reason for di delay usually na information wey you fit use.
Keep copy of wetin you send. Six months from now, for di next planning cycle, di useful thing no be your memory of di conversation. Na di dated email where you lay out di number and di reason for your own words, before anybody discuss am.
Di email na di door, no be di room
None of dis one dey replace preparation. Deepak Malhotra point for Harvard Business Review na say di most expensive mistakes for negotiation dey happen before anybody sidon, and opening email na just di visible tip of decisions wey you suppose dey make on one quiet afternoon: wetin you dey ask for, wetin you go sign today, and wetin you go do instead if di answer na no.
So write di four lines tonight and read dem loud once before you send. Anything wey you no go talk to di person face na wetin you go cut, wey for practice go remove di apology for top and di hedge for bottom. Then close di laptop, because di drafting don finish and di next useful thing no be seventh rewrite. Na to settle your three numbers before di meeting, and to sleep well so dat your voice go steady when you talk di first one loud.
Dem allow you to want plenty here. To ask clearly no be aggression, na courtesy to di person wey get to decide, and di clearest version of your ask na also di easiest one for somebody to talk yes to.
Sources
- Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Facing an Email Negotiation? Take a Proactive Approach
- Harvard Business Review, Control the Negotiation Before It Begins
- Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, What is Anchoring in Negotiation?