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Ask for a raise or a rate increase

Putting a number in writing to a manager or a long-standing client.

Longmoneynegotiationcareer
Help me write this so that saying yes is easy and saying no is awkward.

Structure:
1. The ask, with the specific number or percentage, within the first three sentences.
2. Three pieces of evidence: what I took on, what changed because of me, and what it would cost to replace or re-hire. Concrete and dated, no adjectives.
3. An external reference point if I have one: market rate, a competing offer, what I charge others.
4. A clear next step: a conversation by a named date, or a yes or no.

No apology, no "I know budgets are tight", no justification based on my personal costs. Do not ask whether it is possible. State what I am asking for.

Then name the most likely objection and draft two lines answering it.

My situation:
The number:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Declining and negotiating. Saying no cleanly, and putting a number or a counter-offer in writing.

Related prompts

Say no without leaving the door ajarDeclining a request you are genuinely not going to do.Write the negotiating messageCountering on price, scope, or terms without blowing up the deal.Decline a meeting without damageAn invite you should not accept, from someone you cannot simply ignore.Decline this kindlySaying no to something you are genuinely not going to do.Write a cold email that gets a replyReaching out to someone who has no idea who you are and owes you nothing.Follow up without being annoyingSecond or third nudge on something they genuinely might have missed.

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