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Quick Lift: The Exact Phrases to Ask for a Raise (And the Ones That Lose You Money) · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, where
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  we take a full episode and boil it down to the
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  biggest takeaways and action items you can actually
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  use. Today, we're talking about one of those
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  topics that makes a lot of women instantly uncomfortable,
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  asking for more. More money, more opportunity,
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  more recognition, more of what you have actually
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  earned. I sat down with Bobna Smith, founder
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  of Until There Are Nine, and this conversation
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  was so good because it wasn't just fluffy advice.
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  It was real, practical, and honestly the kind
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  of stuff women should be taught way earlier in
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  their careers. Bobna shared that for years she
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  did what so many of us do. She accepted the offer.
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  She didn't negotiate, and she assumed if she
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  did the work, she would just keep moving up and
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  things would work out. Then, one recruiter asked
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  her a simple question one day, what's your number?
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  Instead of throwing out a number, she asked what
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  they were offering, got a range that was much
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  higher than what she would have asked for, and
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  ended up with nearly a 70 % salary increase.
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  That moment changed everything and eventually
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  led her to the work that she does today, now
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  helping women advocate for compensation and promotion.
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  Let's get into the key takeaways and action items.
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  Takeaway number one. Hard work is not the argument.
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  Business value is. A lot of women fall into the
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  same trap, taking up more, handling more, fixing
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  more, and quietly hoping someone will connect
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  the dots and reward them for it. But that is
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  not usually how it works. More effort does not
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  automatically equal more pay. More responsibility
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  does not automatically equal recognition. I mentioned
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  the episode, I am totally guilty of this. Early
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  on in my career I kept taking on more and more
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  and I thought I would just get compensated for
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  eventually. I never asked and guess what? I never
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  got the pay that went along with the responsibilities
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  that I had taken on. And that was one of the
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  strongest points in Bobna's conversation. You
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  cannot build your case on just being loyal, helpful,
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  overextended, or exhausted. You build it on facts,
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  on scope, on results, on value, and actually
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  asking. If your role has grown, that is not an
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  emotional conversation. It's a business conversation.
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  The company hired you for one level of responsibility
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  and compensation. If this has materially changed,
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  your pay or title should be evaluated too. That
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  does not make you difficult. it makes you aware.
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  Babna also gave us a really useful framework
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  for thinking about your impact. People developer,
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  business operator, value creator. And ideally,
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  at least one of your examples has a dollar sign,
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  a percentage or a measurable result tied to it.
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  Because I work really hard is super easy to dismiss,
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  but I improved retention by 12 % is not. Action
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  item here, create a one page value tracker for
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  yourself. Start by listing everything that has
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  expanded in your role over the last few months.
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  Then organize your accomplishments in the people
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  developer, business operator, or value creator
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  category. Under each one, write down the wins,
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  additional responsibility, and outcomes that
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  you have driven. Then quantify as much as you
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  can. Where did you save time, improve a process,
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  grow revenue, support the team, or increase efficiency?
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  That becomes the foundation for a stronger, more
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  factual compensation and promotion conversation.
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  Takeaway number two. Timing is not a detail.
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  It's a strategy. This was one of my favorite
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  parts of the conversation because I have seen
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  this from both sides. Bhavna was very clear.
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  Asking for a raise during the performance review
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  is too late. Because by then, budgets and promotion
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  decisions were likely made months earlier. Budget
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  timing is the one concern. The other is just
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  understanding the current business environment.
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  I shared a story in the episode about an employee
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  asking for a major raise right after a meeting
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  where we had just talked about missing budget
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  and trying to protect the business. It completely
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  hurt her credibility because of her timing. Not
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  because she never should have asked, but because
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  she was clearly not paying attention to what
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  was happening around her. So yes, be confident.
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  but also read the room, read the company, read
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  the budget cycle, and read the moment. Action
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  item here, figure out when your company actually
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  makes compensation and promotion decisions. Hint,
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  it's probably in the early fall. It's not when
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  they announce them and it's not when your performance
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  review is. Then work backwards and plan your
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  conversation ahead of that window. Takeaway number
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  three, visibility matters way more than women
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  want it to. Here we are back again to the importance
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  of exposure. Bavna said something really important.
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  You can't negotiate your value if you can't recognize
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  it and articulate it. And then the communication
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  has to happen throughout the year, not just once
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  a year during performance reviews. She also talked
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  about how women often worry that sharing wins
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  feels like bragging. Her reframe was great. Think
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  of it as communication and stakeholder management.
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  Ask yourself, who needs to know this? That's
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  smart. That's strategic. That's not bragging.
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  That's making sure the people making decisions
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  actually know what you contribute. And exposure
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  beyond your direct manager matters too, because
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  a lot of promotion and raises and decisions are
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  made by people other than just your manager.
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  You want your name to come up in the room and
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  people to nod and to agree with that. Action
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  item here, pick three people outside your direct
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  manager who should know more about your work.
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  Then think about how you can increase visibility
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  naturally, project updates, cross -functional
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  collaboration, recap emails, presenting results,
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  or simply being more intentional about who is
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  in the loop. Takeaway number four, ask better
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  questions, especially when you're taking on a
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  new role. Bob and I gave us one of the best lines
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  for job offers, never ever give your number,
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  if you can avoid it. Ask them for the range.
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  Ask how they determined it. Ask what criteria
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  places someone at the low, middle, or high end
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  of that range. That keeps you from negotiating
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  against yourself. She also made the point that
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  companies usually have this budgetary range,
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  and they're going to start at the lower end.
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  And it's not because they're evil cartoon villains,
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  but because businesses are business. If you accept
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  it immediately, they just save money. That's
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  why asking questions matters. Action item, next
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  time you're discussing a new role, use these
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  questions. What is the range for the role? What
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  criteria determines where someone falls in the
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  range? What would distinguish someone at the
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  top of the range from someone at the bottom?
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  And the final takeaway, when you make your ask,
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  stop talking. Honestly, this was a mic drop moment,
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  great at the end of an episode. Bobna said women
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  often make the ask and then immediately start
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  softening it. We explain, we qualify, we add
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  personal details, we start backpedaling in real
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  time. Instead, make the ask, then just stop.
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  Let the silence do its job. Yes, the silence
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  feels long and it feels uncomfortable. And to
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  the person, they're probably just thinking about
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  what you just asked. So it feels like a normal
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  pause. You do not need to break the silence.
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  I know it's hard. action item before your next
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  compensation or promotion conversation, write
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  out your ask in one clean sentence, and then
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  practice saying it out loud in the car in front
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  of a mirror. Just say it multiple times until
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  you're comfortable saying what you're asking
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  for, giving them the business case and the rationale,
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  and then be quiet. Weirdly hard, very powerful.
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  So if I were to leave you with the biggest message
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  from this quick lift, it is this. You are allowed
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  to advocate for yourself. You are allowed to
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  ask better questions. You are allowed to understand
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  your value in business terms. And you are definitely
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  allowed to stop waiting for someone else to magically
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  notice because your career is too important to
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  leave up to vibes and hope. If you haven't already
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  done so, please listen to the full episode from
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  Bobna. It is packed with great negotiation information.
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  If this message hit, share it with a friend,
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  and until next time, stay loud and stay lifted.