Are they offering you the right salary?

So here's an interesting thought - all things come in 3s apparently - and I have to agree right now (except for maybe bank holidays, there are loads of those this year).

I have been contacted by 3 separate individuals in the past couple of weeks to help them benchmark a job offer.  Not something we come across often, so something to celebrate when we do see it.  Why did they come to us:

1. I applied for a job internally and now they are offering me a lower salary than the job advert stated on the basis that this is a promotion.  How can I argue for more money?
2. I applied for a job, had 2 interviews, and now they are offering me a lower salary on the basis that I don't have enough experience.  How much is enough experience? How can I put the case for more money?
3. I applied for a job, now they've come back to say I am too expensive even though I am asking for the salary they advertised.

We looked at the benchmarking data we had, and then researched it to understand when and why companies would pay more, or less.  Was it experience, skills, qualifications or something else?  We also sent them off to do a little bit of homework - what was the previous jobholder earning? (because sometimes that knowledge is available).

Then we went through the business case for more salary and discussed what they could ask for instead if they were refused. ie. a commitment to paying it at a specific time based on tangible targets, benefits like extra pensions contributions.

Result!! 1 of them has come back to confirm she has been offered the job at 10% more than the original offer.

Whilst I am still waiting to hear about the others, this just makes me smile.

Maybe it will be a growth area in reward - individuals sourcing data to ensure they get the right salary when they start.

I live in hope!