5 Secrets to Asking for a Raise

Strategies When Asking for a Raise

In this episode you will learn about:

• 5 Secrets to Asking for raise
• Increase your income earnings by 20%
• Behind the closed doors to the annual review process
  

Please listen to the podcast below.
Click on the player or link to start the interview.

https://www.daniellecobo.com/podcast/episode67

“Asking for a raise can potentially elevate your professional reputation and help you be seen as someone who understands industry trends, communicates well, and values the work your company is doing.” - Sonja Price

About The Guest:

Sonja “Dynamo” Price has 15+ years of experience in Career and Leadership consulting. She has a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Organizational Development and is a Certified Career and Executive Coach. She is passionate about empowering professionals to accelerate their career success, to become financially free, and to make a positive impact around the world. In her downtime, she enjoys skiing, playing piano, and geeking out over strategy board games. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjaprice/

Transcription: 

Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of dream job with Danielle Cobo. I am your host Danielle Cobo, and today's guests, we're gonna be talking about the secrets to asking for a raise, which I know you've all been anxiously waiting for. Today's guest is Sonya Price who has 15 years of experience. In her career and leadership consulting, she has worked with a wide range of clients, including Amazon, at&t, Facebook, Google, HBO, Microsoft, and Nordstroms, just to name a few. She has a master's degree in leadership and organizational development and is a certified career and executive coach. She trained with Al Gore to become a climate leader and is actively engaged with the Seattle board of conscious capitalism. She is a passionate about empowering professionals to accelerate their career success, to become financially free and to make a positive impact around the world. In her downtime, she enjoys skiing, playing piano, piano, and geeking out over strategy board games. So thank you so much for joining us today. 

Thanks for having me, Danielle, it's so great to be here with you. 

Well, tell us a little bit about your career journey, because you definitely have an extensive background in the tech industry, especially being that you're located in Seattle area. 

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I, you know, while I was going to college, I didn't really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my career. I'm sure there's many people out there who can relate to this, even if you get a degree, you may not actually end up working in your, in your degree. So about three quarters of the way through my college career, so to say, I actually took a break and decided to get my first professional job. And that ended up being one of the absolute best things that I could do, because I ended up getting a job for a small startup organization actually ended up being employee number two. So it was the founder and CTO and myself. And then I worked there for about five years. And during that time period, that really just helped me put my career on the map. Because each and every time that we decided we were going to hire somebody new that didn't necessarily have like a specialized skill set, I would just, you know, talk to the founder. And I would say, hey, you know, let's hire someone to backfill my position, I'll take that on, I'll do that, I'll do that. And so, you know, by the time that I left that organization, I was a senior product manager, and had had a significant impact and actually helping to create that technology. So that was a really wonderful first job for me. And then I went on from there. And I consider myself to be a pretty dynamic individual, I've always had an interest in lots of different wide and varied things. 

And so throughout my professional career, while I was working in corporate and organizations, I single handedly reinvented my career at least a handful of times. So I went from product management, to usability engineering, to business development, I was in sales and marketing for a period of time. And then I got into consulting, and I ended up specializing in what's called Change Management Consulting, where I was helping large enterprise organizations roll out massive, large scale change operations. So could have been things like corporate mergers, technology, implementations, reorg, you know, you name it, things that are going to impact a lot of people, I was focused on the people side of change, and really looking at the the organizational health, and you know, how would we go about doing a reorg? Or how are people's jobs going to change? And how can we actually approach it from a people oriented perspective, so that everybody got what they needed throughout this, you know, crazy, kind of chaotic change. And so each and every time that I made one of those jumps in my career, not only did I have to become really good at knowing how to position myself or successor, that potential employers could see me in the way that I needed to be seen in order to appear eligible for whatever role that I was moving into. But I was also, you know, making pretty significant jumps in terms of title, scope, responsibility, and also income. So I ended up, you know, substantially increasing my income with each and every single one of those job moves, which was a big part of my goal, quite honestly, is I wanted to make more money, but I also wanted to try my hand at different things. And so I was able to pretty successfully do that, and had a pretty, pretty great career, you know, throughout that time period, and then what happened is each and every single one of the times that I made those moves, I had friends and family who kind of like friends and family members who took interest in, you know, these drastic job changes that I was doing, and they started asking for my help. So, you know, for fun on the side of a full time job, I started helping support people with, you know, making resume enhancements and preparing for interviews and knowing how to negotiate salary, and then over time

I started to develop a little bit more of a structured program, because I realized that there are specific components that I think employees really need to look at and consider. And if you are looking to make a significant career change, you know, here's kind of the steps to take to get yourself aligned in the right direction to first know what your career goals are, make sure you're aligned with those career goals, you know how to position yourself for success. And then you know, all the nuts and bolts of implementing that and making sure that you successfully land the type of role that you really want to have, that is fulfilling and pays well, as well. 

I always say when you spend 130 of your life working, it's essential that you're filling up your cup and your wallet and ensuring that that's something that you enjoy doing. And being when you are clear on your goals, then it gets a lot easier to get to where you want to go in your career when you understand what it is you want to do and what your goals are just in general financially and with your purpose. 

Yes, absolutely. For sure. 

So, you know, you have become this salary advisor, expert, where you have really had success at making significant jumps in your income earnings, and then also coaching other people how to do the same. So what are some of the common challenges that women have when it comes to asking for a raise?

Yeah, well, I think there's a number of challenges that most professionals encounter when asking for a raise, and then probably a few that are very specific to women in general. So I can start there.

You know, and having being a woman myself, I can really relate to this. And I think sometimes as women, you know, we tend to kind of shy away from just asking the questions. So I think first and foremost, is just gaining the confidence to speak up and advocate for yourself and ask the right questions. And you know, I can get more into the specifics of this. But it's like, really, there is a whole process and things that you want to go through. But I think like, first and foremost, before you even go through these steps, it's like mustering the confidence and realizing that this is not an uncommon thing. Many people ask for a raise, many people are advocating for themselves. And most people that you see who are making substantial advancements in their career, if because they have the confidence, and because usually they're advocating for themselves. And yes, they might have mentors and sponsors. And that's a that's a huge aspect of it as well. So it's like having the confidence to go after it yourself. But also finding mentors and sponsors who can advocate for you and are actually helping, you know, pave that pathway for you. So that it's it's not as difficult when you're just, you know, really trained to go it alone.

Yeah, and that's it, that's a great aspect to share is to ensure that you have that confidence to do that, because 87% of hiring managers expect that somebody's going to whether you're getting a new job, or around the time when it comes to annual performance reviews, we expect that you're going to, at some point, negotiate something when it comes to the salary, but most people don't, which is very surprising. Many years being a hiring manager, very seldom did people actually come back and negotiate their income earnings. And it's important that you do especially when you're going for a new job, because when companies are doing things like merit increases, which is a percentage based off of your salary, it's important that you're negotiating the highest salary walking in because then your merit increase will be always based off of that moving forward.

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think you bring up a really great point, which is, especially when you're negotiating for a new job. I think sometimes people you know, they get so excited that they get an offer presented to them. They're like, Yeah, sounds great. And then they're just like, well, when's the start date? Let's negotiate the start date, let's two weeks, three weeks, you know, I'd like to have a week off in between, it's like, yeah, have a week off in between, but also negotiate all of the other aspects of the total compensation as well. And I think an important thing to remember is that, again, it's not uncommon to ask for a pay increase, it's not uncommon to negotiate in the very beginning. And in fact, if you're working with directly with recruiters and hiring managers, this is part of their job. They know how to address these questions when they come up. So if you ask them, Is there any flexibility in this offer? They know exactly what to say because it's part of their job. And they do it day in day out, especially recruiters who are I mean, they know all the protocols of what to say and when and how to go back and ask for more money from the hiring manager. So if you ask for this, it's not like it's going to be the first time they've ever heard of it. This is what they do for a living. 

And a lot of times when a company contracts that recruiter and no give an income range, so they'll say the salary ranges between this amount and this amount, and if that particular recruiter is recruiting for multiple positions, they'll know what those other reps have been extended. So they'll be able to kind of give you a basis as to, well, this is the range that they're going for. And we might be able to negotiate just a little bit more, because the recruiter is not only being an advocate for you, they're also being an advocate for the company as well. So yeah, great point when it comes to when you're going for a new job. So let's really dive into what are some What are the five secrets that you share when it comes to asking for a raise?

5 Secrets to Asking for a Raise

Absolutely, let's get into it here. So if you're working inside of an organization, and you're looking to get a raise with your current existing job, these are the steps that we're about to walk through. Now, as a caveat to this, before we really dive into the details, sometimes I have found that one of the easiest ways to get a pay increase is to actually go get a new job with a new organization, or go get a new offer with a new organization. And then you can bring that offer back to your existing organization and use that as leverage to get a raise with where you're at right now. Now, there are several steps into doing all of that.

But if you're in your you're in your existing job, you like what you're doing, it's a good work environment, you like the you know, you like your clients, you like all the various different things about it, you want to stay in your current job, but maybe you haven't really gotten those big pay increases over time, and you're you're delivering, and it's time, it's time for a raise. So that's what we're gonna dive into here. 

#1 - Start Sharing Your Wins

So step one, is to really start sharing your wins. Now, I think a common challenge, or a common mistake that a lot of professionals make is that they wait until its annual review time. And then they're like, oh, yeah, well, isn't it time for a raise. And usually, if you wait until annual review time, most people get, you know, somewhere between a two to 5% increase to their base salary, that's pretty standard across the board, some industries pay a little bit more, some industries paid less, you know, or you might get that comp increase in a different type of way through commissions or, you know, something else, an annual bonus or something like that. But mostly across the board, if you're an existing employee, you're gonna get a two to 5% increase. And 5% is usually for top performers.

If you go get a job with a new organization, in general, usually your your percentage increase is going to be between 10 to 20%. So this kind of goes back to that first point I was making about, uh, you know, if you really want a substantial increase, go get a job with a new organization. And if you really know how to position yourself in the right way, and you're moving up in job title, or level or whatnot, usually, you can you can you know how to position yourself, you can get even more than even larger comp increase. So, but if you're inside of your current organization, you know, start sharing your wins, you want to share your wins early and often. So you can be sharing this with your manager, but you also want your managers manager to be aware of who you are and what you're up to, because you have to kind of know how that decision making process comes into play that when they're deciding if they should give you a raise or not, and how much of a raise that they should give you. That decision is usually made between your boss, your boss's boss, and your boss's peers. So you want to make sure that you are getting the right exposure with the right kind of people so they know who you are, and what you're capable of. And I think sometimes people just sit back and they expect that the their good work is going to be rewarded simply because they worked hard, or you know that they're gonna get these merit increases, because somebody's recognizing the good work that you're doing. If you have a great manager and a great team, hopefully they are doing that on their own accord. And in this case, it is kind of one of the you know, the more that you speak up for yourself, oftentimes, the more recognizable you are, and the more that your results get recognized as well. So you want to start sharing your wins. That's step one. 

#2 - Do Your Research

Step two, is to do your research. Make sure do you know, like what you're being paid right now, is that within the market range, and where is it within the market range is in the lower end, the higher end the midpoint, I generally suggest that you always try to land in the upper quadrant of the pay range for your specific market for your specific type of company and your specific, you know, job title and level. The higher up that you can get, obviously, the better if you can get outside of that range. You know, why not? But you always want to try to get in the upper quadrant as much as possible. And the reason for this is that generally the new hire market outpaces the existing employee market. 

So do your research. And you can do that research online. You know, there's a variety of different online resources. You want to make sure that's very specific to your industry and the type of company that you work with or company editor types of companies. You can also you know, as much as possible you can find out, you know what coworkers are making or what they're making and other organizations you never want to like blatantly ask a co worker, you know what their pay ranges. But if you have ways to figure that out, you can.

#3 - Consider The Timing

And then you know, step three, consider the overall timing. When is annual review happens, does that happen at the end of the year does it happen mid year, and you never want to wait until the annual review to ask for a raise, that's oftentimes way too late. So you want to be you know, going back to step one, start sharing your wins early. And often you want all of those people to be aware of your results and what you're delivering throughout the year so that when annual review time happens, then you have the possibility of you know, actually achieving the raise that you're looking for. Or you can ask for an off cycle, promotion or off cycle raise, we have to be aware of what our company policies and what's possible, and this and that and the other. This is another reason why getting an offer from another organism, another organization can oftentimes help as well, because there has to be a reason as to why they should do an off cycle promotion, as opposed to waiting to whatever time of year that they normally do these things.

#4 - Come Prepared

And then, you know, step four, is to know what do you say and what not to say, when asking for a raise? And you know, you always want to make it be about the company about the key initiatives and the goals for the overall organization or for your specific department or your role. You know, what are the goals that you've been tasked with? And how well are you tracking to those goals? What results have you produced? So, you know, you can't just ask for a raise, because oh, I've really been putting in the extra time and effort, you can, you certainly can ask for a raise for that reason. But usually you get rewarded when you've met, met or exceeded the goals that the organization has set out for you. So you always want to be aware of, you know, what are those goals? How are you tracking to those goals, making sure you're getting exposure for meeting or achieving those goals. And anything that you've done above and beyond, you know, if you've gone out and you found new clients, or you brought in a new business with an existing account, whatever it might be, you want to make sure that the good work that you're doing is getting recognized, and then eventually rewarded as well. And usually, you won't get that raise or the promotion until you've already been performing at that, at that at that level for a period of time. So, but don't let it go on too long without being recognized.

#5 - Prepare To Fail

 But step five is really to, you know, prepare to fail, and you can fail gracefully. And this doesn't mean that, you know, if you go through this whole process, it doesn't mean that you're going to fail. But you know, oftentimes it doesn't go exactly as you want it too. So just be prepared, be prepared for the process and make sure that even if it doesn't happen exactly when you want to, like know that anything that you're doing, you're planting seeds. So you know, if you are sharing your wins throughout the year, great, you're planting seeds, and those seeds are going to grow over time. And you know, if it doesn't happen exactly when you want or think think too well, then maybe you might, you might need to visit a different strategy, like we talked about, go get an offer from another organization, bring that back, usually, or oftentimes company, if they're if they really want to keep you and they know that you're a high performer, oftentimes they will match or beat that offer to keep you, you know, keep you in working, especially if that offers from a competing organization.

You know, and just be prepared that it's going to, it's going to come over a series of conversations, that doesn't usually happen the very first time that you ask. So if you put yourself out there, you're advocating for yourself, you ask for it, and you don't immediately get the results that you're looking for. That does not mean that you failed, it just means you need to keep up with it. You need to make sure that you're continuing to share your wins, you're continuing to deliver on the goals. And you're continuing to make sure that the right people know about you and know what you're delivering. So that when it does come time that they are thinking about you for a higher percent increase or for promotion to a new level new title. Or they're thinking about, you know, what are the other types of opportunities that they could assign you that would give you that you know, that would give you the opportunity to perform at that higher level so that you are eligible for the raise, you know, when the next time comes around?

Those are some very valuable tips and some great training great secrets when it comes to asking for the raise. And at the end of the day. What I'm hearing you really saying is being an advocate for yourself, because if you're an advocate for yourself, it can go in multiple ways. Either you're an advocate, you're you're looking for another position, you're

You're getting a raise there, or you're getting a raise within your current organization, or even maybe being promoted up because you're continuously advocating for yourself. Now, one of the things that you had said that kind of just resonated with going through that whole process is celebrating your wins and sharing your wins. Because a lot of people will wait to the very end when it's an annual performance review. And they get this link, and it says, okay, fill out your annual performance review. And when I see people really succeed in creating a great performance review is when you are consistently keeping track of your successes, if each, if each week, you track some sort of success, and you maybe open up a Word document, write it down, share it with your manager during your one on one calls, but also write it down on a document so that when it comes to that time to fill out your annual performance review, if you've written down one success, over every single week, now you've got tons of things that tons of content and great success stories are put into your annual performance review, which then advocates for you when you're positioning yourself to either get that outstanding or exceeds expectations. And really looking at benchmarks to if you're if you're in sales, particularly for example, it's what percentage did you grow your business year over year? Where did you get new clients things like that any percentage growth is always going to be valuable? Or if you're in a role where maybe you're not in sales, but maybe you were able to increase productivity, then that would be beneficial as well. But yeah, the annual performance review, and really setting yourself up for success to have those conversations with your manager, right from the get go understand, what are the expectations, a lot of companies have parameters, what is what meets the outstanding, and compared to exceeds expectations, and, and things along those lines. And once you understand what those parameters are, that's when you can really put together a plan. So that when, when they are giving those rankings that you already know what they are, and you're already plugging yourself in to get to that goal that you want for exceeds or outstanding? 

Absolutely, I think he makes some really great points there is, you know, being aware of what are the markers of success?

You know, what, yeah, what does what does meet expectations mean? What does exceeds expectations mean? And it's perfectly fine for you to ask your manager, what those specifics are, when you know what those things are, you can be working towards it all year long.

So you want to know what that is not just for your role, your level and your title, but you also kind of want to be thinking about, Okay, what's the next level up? And what are the success markers for that level as well, especially if you if you want to get promoted, you need to be thinking about okay, what what's, what's the next level up? And what are the results that they're going to be looking for, for that next level up, because if you do want to get promoted, oftentimes, they're looking for you to be performing at that level before they actually give you that title. So I think that's really important.

And yes, Oh, one other thing that I thought of was, you know, and you asked me this earlier is like, what are some of the common challenges that women particularly encounter? And I think, you know, knowing how to advocate for yourself, it includes, you know, sharing your wins throughout all the all all the time. But, you know, this includes quantifiable and qualifiable results. So, you want to be looking for those things of what can you share with your manager? Or, you know, what can you share at a, you know, big team meeting, or different things like that. So what are all the various different ways and places that you can share your wins and results? And then what are those wins and results, and it, you know, it could be, you know, increasing sales by X percent. Or it could be, you know, maybe your client sends you an email one day and says, hey, thanks so much for putting the extra hard work. We don't know how we could have done this without you. Something as simple as that, you know, send that on to your manager. And not I've done things like this in the past, I've just, you know, shared that with my manager. And I said, Hey, you know, look at what so and so said about our work together, and then they've ended up forwarding that on to their boss, right? Because it's like, anytime you can help them look good, you know, you you look good, they look good. Everybody looks good. So if you can think of things like okay, what might get forwarded on to be shared with other people? You know, in any time that you can find new opportunities for sales, I used to be in consulting, and even though my role was not in a sales position, there were times where, you know, directors or VPS would come to me and they would say, hey, you know, we have this new project that we're starting, is that something you think you and your team could help with? So yes, absolutely. And then I would do a handoff with our biz dev team. But because I had that handoff, you know,

I would write up a really nice introduction, I would send it over to the sales team. But I would also see see my manager, and maybe even the director of my team on that. So they're aware of what's happening. And they see, oh, she's creating new business for us, even if she's not the one to create the contract and, you know, get the signature on the dotted line. Anytime you can see see people on emails or send along praise that you that you have gotten, you know, those are those really valuable things that you can share throughout the year, that really start to add up over time.

A Peek Behind The Annual Review Process

Yeah, it's in, I want to kind of peek back the curtain a little bit to the behind the scenes stuff that goes on us being in positions where we've seen act, the process behind the scenes when it comes to promotions and merit increases. So a lot of times companies will get together and they have the parameters for the for the annual performance for you, what are the what are the metrics for outstanding exceeds, exceeds an expects expectations, and really understanding what percentage of that is performance driven, that are metrics that you can bet you can actually measure? And what of them are behaviors, because some of the things that you talk to just now was not only celebrating your successes of what you've done, but also going in what, what resonated, when you're talking about understanding what the expectations are for the position app, because a lot of people, there's an opportunity to remind yourself that it's going above and beyond your existing role, that leadership and how your attitude is and how you show up and how you support each other and how you are as a leader and a teammate. That's what really gets you to that next level and the annual performance review. Because nowadays, just getting the performance and in meeting your performance, that's that's your meeting the expectations, the expectations is performance. So understanding and really taking the time to connect with your manager and HR and understand what percentage of it performance and leadership. And then know that often what happens behind the scenes is the managers will get together and they'll do what's called a nine box exercise and a nine box exercises, looking at your overall team and saying, Okay, who's to new to rate who your high performers, who your performers that are not only high performers, but a great attitude, who is in the position to get promoted. And then looking at that. And then also looking at the performance rankings when it comes to productivity. I knowing that when it comes to that annual time, when we're able to give the merit increases, often, managers are given a certain budget. And so they have this budget. And then there's some parameters based off of where you fall within the metrics between outstanding or meats. And then also they're looking at so they're not only looking at your performance, they're also looking at that range that you had talked about, which is the medium range between the salaries. So there are some times where they need to use their budget to maybe you have somebody that was brought in and really low salary, and we need to get them up to the medium range, that manager might use a big portion of the overall team's budget to get that other person back up. And that either may be a flat dollar amount salary increase, or it may be a signing bonus, imminent, maybe an actual just flat out bonus. So there's several different ways that a manager can once they're given their budget allocation, it can either be a percentage off the salary that they're increasing, it could be a straight salary increase with $1 amount, it could be stock options can be another thing. 

So really understanding when you are meeting with your manager is not only what are the expectations, but what are the different budgets that we can possibly pull from to really support you in getting something at the end of the day. 

Absolutely. A couple of things, I'd like to add into that whole process that you just described, and every company does a little bit different, or they might have different terminology and how they refer to nine box or you know, other ways that each company decides to do it. But most often what I see is that companies will for each team, they have to assign people to you know, a certain percentage will get exceeds expectations, a certain percentage gets meets expectations, a certain percentage gets below expectations. And you know, in different companies have different ratings. They call it different things. But this is really important. And it can sometimes create a fairly competitive internal landscape, which is most teams always have to have a certain percentage that falls in the lowest ranking, the lowest the lowest rank. Could be usually as like 5% could be a little bit more could be a little bit less but no matter how, like the whole team could be made of high performers. 

But sometimes you need to be perceived as one of the highest performers out of all the high performers. Because sometimes, no matter how good you are, you might still fall in that the bottom 5%. And usually, if you fall in that bottom 5%, then you're going to be put on a pit plan, a performance improvement plan. And even if you're a great performer, you might still, you know, be put on that list to be like, managed out of the organization. And I've seen some really high quality people get assigned to this, you know, to this level, and be absolutely devastated because of it. And so, you know, if you don't want to fall into that area, you want to make sure that you are showcasing your results throughout the year. Because, you know, the whilst, while some of your evaluation is, you know, based on specific metrics and specific data, some of it is very subjective as well. And that that whole process that happens, it usually happens with the entire leadership team, and that leadership team being your boss, your boss's boss, and your boss's peers. And so you need to make sure that other people, even your boss's peers are aware of you and what you're doing so that when your name comes up in that conversation, they're not like, “Who who is that person, I don't know, I've never even heard of them, I've never even seen them.”

So it's very important to make sure that you aren't getting the exposure needed. So that you're, you know, you're you are seen as a high performer, both in terms of results, but just also in terms of being seen. And that could be just showing up to the right kinds of meetings or asking for invites to those meetings so that people know who you are, they see your name, they see your face, they you know, hear you speak up about something here or there. Or maybe it's volunteering for a specific committee or something like that, where you can get that exposure. And then the other thing I'd like to add to this conversation is that, yes, there there are funds that get allocated in very specific ways. And generally, that's at the managers discretion to allocate amongst their team. But sometimes, depending upon how that evaluation goes across all of the different teams, sometimes there will be money from one team that gets reallocated to a different team. Yeah. So you know, hopefully, your team is the one that gets the extra allocated dollars. But sometimes you might be on the team where some of those funds are taken away, simply because your manager doesn't have enough data points to vouch for you or their team members. And then you know, this, this happens through an overall evaluation, conversation, and then sometimes those dollars are getting reallocated across the lines in, you know, it is it's a very complicated process. 

And it can take, sometimes it takes, you know, this team, they meet for it for a whole day, maybe sometimes a couple of days, until they really start to get these things locked down. And, you know, it is dependent upon how well the company has done that year, and what kinds of you know, dollars that they have to work with. And that can be a percentage increase on your base salary, it could be part of your, you know, annual bonus. And so sometimes you might get more on your bonus, but you don't get as much on your base salary increase. You know, or maybe there's some stock options awarded, or, you know, various different ways of rewarding employees for, for that, you know, particular time period.

If possible, you always want to get your base increased, if you can, because there's an accumulative effect that happens on that year over year. But, you know, cash bonuses and stock options are nice, too. 

I'm really glad that you brought up that the percentage of the bell curve, and that sometimes even you have high performers that are, at some point, somebody's kind of got to be at the bottom of the bell curve, because I remember one year, when I was leading a team for a fortune 500 company, and it was a it was one of the years that we exceeded every single mark, it was one of our highest producing years. So we had a phenomenal product launch. And I remember that year when it came back to the annual performance reviews, and the base off the bell curve. There were some people that in sales hit 100%. And I was going okay, so that's meets expectations 100% or achieves expectations. And they ended up getting below expectations. And in the reason being from the corporate perspective was yes, they did hit 100%. However, when you look at 100 of the sales reps that were there, they were in the bottom five to 10%. And so it was based off of a bell curve. And so I think that's important to really understand that that bell curve aspect when it comes to where you fall within that department within the organization. 

And like you said, there's going to be times where you've got really high producing years where the company's made a lot of money. And the budget to allocate for increases in salary and bonuses is going to be a lot healthier than some of the years where the company maybe missed the mark. And so understanding that perspective as well, this, I think, if there's anything to take away from today's conversation is, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that you don't aren't always preview to. And so it's so important to have these conversations with your manager right from the beginning and saying, and seeking to understand what are the expectations, to achieve the different metrics within the annual performance review, and when it comes to getting those types of increases within your income earnings. And, as you said, throughout the year, track your successes, share your successes, advocate for yourself and continuously go above and beyond, especially if you're looking to get promoted into different roles. You want your name to be known. And that's your legacy and how you're contributing to the organization above your existing role.

Yep, absolutely. Yeah. If I may share, I'd love to just talk about a free tool that might be helpful for people who are listening right now. I have a I call it the Dynamo salary calculator. And so if you want to look at how the accumulative effect of having an increase on your base salary or whatever right, you want to go, you want to be thinking about how can getting a raise now? How is that going to help you over the remainder of your career? So it's at Dynamo careers.com, forward slash calculator. And this will help you see how your earning potential can be accumulative over the course of your career. So you want to look at how much are you making now? How much could you be making in the future, whether you get a raise at your current company, or a new company, you move on, you get a significant increase somewhere else, it will actually show you if you stay at that job for X number of years, you know, how does that percentage increase play out over time? I, I love when people kind of take a look at this because that might be the motivation that can help you get over the hump of you know, being confident and learning to advocate for yourself and sharing those those quick wins, the big wins the small wins, you know, what are those things that are going to help you do that so you can see how that can actually translate to your personal bottom line. 

Well, thank you so much for sharing that with our audience. You shared some very valuable insights into the secrets of asking for a raise and really it comes down to advocating for yourself and understanding what the qualifications are for raised so that you can achieve your goals.