Finance Coach - Vol. 26

Finance tip: Income

How to ask for a raise. Getting a raise at work is no longer a given, especially in these new economic times, so how you approach the topic with your bosses becomes all the more important. Firstly, you need to showcase your value to the company, so show them what you have achieved recently – this could be a reminder of a project that went off perfectly, or very positive feedback from clients about your work. Secondly, explain why you feel you are worthy of getting a bump up in salary – you have taken some of the workload off of your immediate superior, for example, or feel you are ready to take on some more responsibilities. Thirdly, be prepared to actually have more of these afore-mentioned responsibilities put onto your shoulders. Companies these days often feel that raises are not automatic, and must be linked to an increased scope of work – so don’t think you can talk up what you’re prepared to take on, and then just pass it on at crunch-time. And finally, timing is everything. Try and wait until there is some good news to preface your request for an increase – this could be the release of better-than-expected company results, or the fact that you’ve just landed a new client. Also remember that the person you’re pitching to is human, and will have good moods and bad moods – there’s not much point in approaching your boss if he’s still fuming from a screaming match on the phone with his wife!

Business tip: Marketing

Always remember to have a ‘call to action’ in your advertising. The final part of any piece of effective advertising material is a call to action – where you want the potential client to act on what they’ve seen and take some form of immediate action. This could be a prompt to pick up the phone and call you now, to visit your website to take advantage of a special offer, or to email you for further information. The public (and thus your particular target market) is so bombarded with media and messages every second of the day that, if you don’t get them to act immediately, your message could be lost and forgotten. Also ensure that they have as many ways to contact you as possible – not everyone uses a computer, for example, so even if your preferred form of contact is email, have a phone number displayed as well. And make sure that your contact details are clearly visible – there’s no point in having a roadside billboard asking people to call you, but your number is printed in a font that’s impossible to read from a moving car…