Most salary negotiation happens before you sit down. Build leverage by making the other party need you more than you need them. Walk-away power comes from having real alternatives, and that's what wins major gains.
The worst salary negotiation mistake that you can make is assuming that the negotiation happens when you sit down. All the negotiation has already occurred by the leverage you have before you sit down at the table. And so if you're not sure whether you're going to win the negotiation, you've already lost, because winners win by getting the other person to need them more than they need the other person. At the most basic level, negotiation comes down to supply and demand. And sure, there's tons of little tips and tactics that you can be like, oh, log rolling, and what about we can bundle these things, and let's break down into the smaller pieces. Sure, those are all like incremental improvements, but the big wins come from playing a different game, which is by being someone that could go anywhere.
