The Counter Offer Letter Guide: Get Your Desired Salary!

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a new job offer didn’t meet your expectations at all? Your prospective employer may offer below market-value salary, inadequate benefits and facilities, or unbearably limited vacation days leave. 

These situations are when a counter offer letter may be helpful for you to further negotiate the initial offer you received! When drafting a counter offer letter, many applicants struggle with expressing their wants in a clear and appropriate manner. Many job seekers fear that writing a counter offer letter may unintentionally displease the hiring manager and they might lose the new job completely. However, a properly researched and well-written offer negotiation letter can help your prospective employer redetermine your value and accept your more satisfactory counter offer. 

So, first and foremost, it is essential to understand the definition and purpose of a counter offer letter. Then, it is as important to learn how to properly construct a great one. Let’s start by knowing what a counter offer letter really is!

A job counter offer letter, sometimes referred to as an offer negotiation letter, is a letter written by a job applicant to the hiring manager in response to an unsatisfactory job offer. In the letter, the applicant clearly expresses their interest towards the offered job.

However, statements of wanting to negotiate other terms that come with the job such as salary, benefits and other compensation are also added in a counter offer letter. An employer can react to the counter offer by accepting it, rejecting it, or proposing a new offer.

Although discussing a counter offer can also be done by having an in-person negotiation with your employer, which at certain times can also be conducted via phone call, a job offer negotiation email can have several distinct benefits:

1. Less nerve-wracking for more verbally anxious individuals.

Counter offers can also be proposed directly to your employer - some people schedule in-person meetings to discuss their counter offers. However, not everyone finds this situation desirable. More verbally anxious individuals might prefer a less socially daunting setting to minimize script blunders. Sending a counter offer letter might be a less-stressful approach for them!

2. Elaborate your thoughts in more detail. 

Writing a counter offer letter allows you to translate your thoughts more thoroughly. It gives you the freedom to include more detail, depth, and support without having to worry about interference from your employer, compared to when you are proposing a counter offer face-to-face. Additionally, you edit your counter offer email draft as many times as you wish before sending it. 

3. Create an easily tracked paper trail. 

If you propose your counter offer by sending a counter offer letter, an easily tracked paper trail will be formed. When you clearly mention your proposed counter offer with details in your letter, both you and your employer can refer back to that counter offer when needed. To make your letter even clearer, don’t forget to properly structure and label everything in your counter offer letter! Additionally, because a letter or email is documented, you can avoid misconceptions that may arise in the future.  

Ready to write one of your own? Here are 5 fool-proof steps on how to write a counter offer letter: 

A reason or two must lay behind your dissatisfaction towards the initial offer that was put forward in the first place. This may be because the offered salary is below the local average salary for your position, your previous company secured better insurance coverage and other possible reasons. 

When deciding on a counter offer for your counter offer letter, keep in mind that a counter offer that would most likely get accepted is reasonable and one that is strongly supported by research. Research will also help you in avoiding making unnecessarily extravagant requests. 

An email that starts with greetings is always pleasing and polite! It showcases professionalism and courtesy, which can make your employer value you even more.

After greeting your employer, feel free to follow up with a short cordial sentence like “I hope your week has been great” or “I hope you’re having a wonderful day”. 

Before jumping into the specifics of your offer, you must first express your gratitude for the job offer. Show your interest in accepting the job and on how you’re looking forward to the job. When your employer understands that you would most likely take the job, they can be more assured that coming into some terms with you may be worth it overall. 

Undoubtedly, the body, which is the most important part of your counter offer email, should include the specifics of your counter offer. In your email, restate the company’s initial offer, then explain why you think it can be replaced with, for example, a more competitive salary, a better-justified set of benefits, and more sick days leave.

To convince your hiring manager, it is great to briefly elaborate on why you deserve to receive the counter offer you proposed. Your previous experience and skills or anchoring local and national average salaries in your field can be pointed out softly in your counter offer email so the hirer can be convinced of your reasoning. 

A CTA, which stands for Call-to-Action, is often found in letters as an invitation for the reader to do something about the matter discussed immediately. A Call-to-Action is frequently included at the end of a counter offer letter to persuade the hiring manager to take action upon your counter offer. A clear, concise and strong CTA can speed up your offer negotiation process. 

As we know, a good counter offer letter should be properly researched, thoughtfully drafted and carefully written. Here are 2 handy tips that may come in handy when writing your counter offer letter:

💡 Propose a reasonable and market competitive counter offer.

Always back your counter offer with research! Research provides a strong support for your offer and makes it more valid and well-reasoned. It is truly the best place to start when thinking about how to counter an offer letter! 

💡 Negotiate politely and fairly.

Don’t forget to show politeness in your counter offer letter. When you express your offer, use neutral and polite words to showcase your wants as requests rather than demands. It is important to not offend or displease your employer in any way.

💡 Show your willingness to negotiate.

It is possible that the company will not be able to fulfill your counter offer. When this is the case and you don’t want it to hurt your chances of getting the job, make sure to show that you are willing to negotiate further in your counter offer letter.

💡 Emphasize your excitement to join the company.

This may sound trivial, but make sure to show your enthusiasm to work for the company. Not only that this will come across in a good light to the employer, it might also convince employers that you are worth your counter offer and allows them to be excited to have you onboard as well.

Before writing your own counter offer letter, looking at some references would be a great help. Check out a counter offer email example below:

Still not sure how to write your counter offer letter? Use this counter offer letter template (that focuses on negotiating salary) to help you in writing your letter!

--- Originally written by Lorencia Ang Budijono ---