There is a profound irony at the centre of most tech sales careers. The person whose entire professional identity is built around negotiation , who spends their days navigating objections, anchoring deal values, and protecting margin in commercial conversations , often completely abandons those skills the moment they are sitting across the table from a recruiter or hiring manager. They accept the first number offered. They apologise for asking about the variable component. They say "that sounds fair" when what they mean is "I wish it were more."
I have been on both sides of this conversation more times than I can count. As a hiring manager at Oracle, I watched exceptional candidates undervalue themselves consistently. As a sales leader building my own career, I made the same mistakes in my early years. What changed for me was the moment I realised that a compensation negotiation is simply a sales conversation in which you are the product. The same frameworks apply. The same preparation matters. And the same confidence , grounded in evidence, not bravado , is what moves the number.
The Pre-Negotiation Research Phase
Nothing in a negotiation matters more than preparation, and preparation in a salary context means understanding the market value of the role you are filling before you are in the room. In the Lagos tech market, this research is harder than it is in markets with transparent salary databases, but it is not impossible. Talk to peers in similar roles at similar companies. Use LinkedIn's salary tool. Ask in community channels. Read job postings carefully for hints about OTE ranges. Build a picture.
The number you are anchoring to in a negotiation should not be pulled from the air or extrapolated from your current salary plus a percentage. It should be grounded in market data, your specific experience level, and a realistic assessment of what the role is worth to the company. A senior AE who closes deals in the 50 million naira range is worth more than a senior AE who closes deals in the 5 million naira range , and both should know their worth before they enter the conversation.
Part of your preparation should also include understanding the full compensation structure, not just the base salary. In tech sales, the variable component , commission, bonuses, accelerators , often exceeds the base in a good year. Get clarity on the OTE (on-target earnings), the commission structure, what percentage of reps actually hit target, and whether there is an accelerator above 100 percent quota. These are not rude questions. They are the questions a sophisticated candidate asks, and asking them signals that you understand how sales compensation works , which is itself a positive signal to the hiring manager.
“Your current salary is not the floor for your next salary. Market value is. Go into every compensation conversation with a market-grounded number, not a personal history.”
The Language That Moves Offers
The specific language you use in a salary negotiation matters more than most people realise. There are phrases that close doors and phrases that open them. Let me give you the framework I teach in the Academy.
When you receive an offer, resist the urge to respond immediately. The pause is not awkward , it is professional. "Thank you. I appreciate the offer. Can I have 24 hours to review it properly?" That sentence alone, which most candidates never use, immediately signals that you are a considered professional rather than a desperate candidate.
When you come back to negotiate, do not apologise for negotiating. "I have given this serious thought, and I am genuinely excited about the role and the team. Based on my research and the experience I am bringing to this position, I was expecting something closer to X. Is there flexibility there?" That framing , excitement first, evidence second, question third , is the structure of a good sales conversation. You are not demanding. You are inviting the other side to solve a problem with you.
If they cannot move on base salary, which is common in larger organisations with rigid salary bands, pivot to other elements. "I understand the base band is fixed. Can we discuss the sign-on bonus, the accelerator structure, or the timing of the first performance review?" Every one of those is a legitimate negotiating lever, and experienced compensation managers expect candidates to explore them. For more on the art of advancing a difficult conversation, my post on objection handling frameworks that work is directly applicable here , most of the techniques are transferable.
When to Accept and When to Walk
One of the most important negotiation skills is knowing your walk-away point before the conversation starts. Not having a walk-away point is why people accept offers they will resent for the next two years. Before you engage in any compensation discussion, be clear with yourself: what is the minimum number , in terms of base, OTE, and total package , at which this role makes financial and professional sense for you? Write that number down. Do not share it in the conversation, but hold it internally as your anchor.
If the offer, after negotiation, still does not reach that number, you have two options: walk away, or accept it with eyes open and a clear plan for when you will revisit the conversation internally. Walking away from a bad offer is not failure , it is discipline. I have seen salespeople accept low-ball offers out of fear, and then spend the following eighteen months performing below their capability because they felt undervalued. That resentment is expensive for everyone.
On the other hand, if the role offers something beyond compensation , a brand name, a mentor, market access, a product that opens doors , the calculus changes. The best career decisions I made early in my career were not always the highest-paying ones. Sometimes the investment in the right platform, even at a lower base, pays off twenty times over in the medium term. Know the difference between accepting a lower number strategically and accepting it out of anxiety.
Making the Negotiation a Two-Way Conversation
The best salary negotiations I have ever been part of , on both sides of the table , felt like genuine problem-solving rather than adversarial bargaining. The candidate who understands this creates a fundamentally different dynamic from the one who approaches the conversation as a battle to be won. You are trying to find an arrangement that works for both parties. That is exactly the posture you take into a commercial deal, and it is exactly the posture that works here.
Ask questions. "What does success look like in this role at six months?" "How has compensation evolved for people who have performed well in this position?" "What is the typical timeline for the first salary review?" These questions do three things simultaneously: they give you information, they signal that you are thinking long-term, and they build rapport with the person you are negotiating with. That rapport matters , you are about to work with these people, and how you handle this conversation is the first data point they have about how you handle all your negotiations. Make it a good one.
Everything you learn about negotiation in a sales context in the 12-Week Programme , anchoring, the power of the pause, reframing objections, the pivot to value , applies directly to this conversation. The skills are not separate. They are the same skill, pointed in a different direction. For more on how to set yourself up for a promotion conversation after you have joined, read the companion post.
“The skills you build to close deals are the exact skills you need to negotiate your compensation. The only difference is the product on the table is you.”