The best way to boost your pay is to ask your employer for nothing at all, one man has claimed.
Brooke Allen says he hit upon a formula that 'goes beyond win-win' when he successfully negotiated the best deal of his life by asking for a salary of precisely $0.
His 'give-give' approach - which he says encourages employees and employers to 'care about each other' - involves a starting point of offering the most and asking for the least.
Mr Allen, who has spent 30 years working as a trader and hedge fund manager in the securities industry, described in an article on Qz.com how he decided to take a new approach to negotiating contracts in his efforts to live a debt-free life.
Mr Allen had accepted a job that came with a bonus guarantee working for a unit that was then disbanded almost immediately. He was paid both the guarantee and a severance.
'It was the first time in my career that I was paid more than I delivered, and I felt I was left with a debt I could never repay,' he said.
The typical negotiating approach of both sides demanding something unreasonable and then coming to a compromise 'backfires' because its starting point is 'acts of unreasonableness, selfishness and distrust', Mr Allen said.
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The next time a prospective employer sent him a 'lopsided' agreement and invited him to counter-propose, he asked them to write a new contract as if they were him - including everything in his own best interests, and taking out anything they would never agree to.
He pledged to sign the contract they drew up subject to agreement on compensation.
Give-give: Mr Allen works as a trader and hedge fund manager in the cut-throat securities industry
When it came to base pay, Mr Allen wrote down the least he was willing to work for and asked his employer to write down the most they would offer a perfect candidate - irrespective of whether he was that person.
THE 'GIVE-GIVE' GUIDE TO NEGOTIATING
Brooke Allen offered guidelines for those thinking of following his caring approach to contract negotiations:
Think about what you would want if you were on the other party's side
Ask them to think about what they would want if they were in your shoes
Write the most you are willing to give a perfect counter-party - and the least you would accept
Ask them to do the same
Point out that, should they later improve their offer, a deal will not be reached because they were dishonest the first time around
Reveal what you wrote down at the same time
He told them that if, when they exchanged papers, their number was not higher than his both parties could walk away from the table, saving time.
'Their number was twice the best base pay I had ever received in past jobs, and my request was for $0,' he wrote.
Mr Allen and his employer did a similar paper exchange when it came to deciding profit sharing percentages, although this time he wanted the highest payout standard for the industry. It matched the number the firm wrote down.
'We agreed on that percentage because it maximised my incentive to perform and minimised the risk I would ever want to go elsewhere,' he wrote.
After examining the final contract, Mr Allen's lawyer told him it offered the 'best terms he had ever seen'.
According to the trader - who is still with the same firm 17 years later - if you care about people first, even business people respond by caring back.
'If you each offer more than the other would accept, and you honestly admit your imperfections, then you will come to an agreement,' he wrote.
Mr Allen admitted that his approach would not lead to a deal if the user found themselves negotiating with someone unwilling to reciprocate empathy, but that he was yet to come across that response.