Can I have some advice about asking for a raise?

Ask him for 50 grand. On second thought, you need advice from someone on the ground where you are. To my ears your resume reflected in the paragraphs above is formidable. Is there any way to link a salary increase to the anticipated performance in wine and beer sales? I’m frankly rather startled that your responsibilities merit only 30 grand, particularly in DC where the cost of living is through the roof. I would first of all strive to determine whether or not you are being seriously underpaid. You sound like an asset your manager would be wise to retain. Do some research. Then negotiate from strength.

Can you quantify what you’ve done and tie it to the bottom line at the store? If I am in management, I want to see how much you’ve done to improve the financial results. Your list of accomplishments sounds good, but most likely a bean counter will be more impressed with the real numbers in each area.

@Adirondackwannabe is exactly right. How has expanding the wine selection affected sales? How has tripling the email list improved things? Will new sales be brought in by the improved web site? That said, you sound like a gen of an employee and the boss would be nuts to lose you.

A few years ago, in order to request a promotion and big raise, I decided to do something I had never done before: make my proposal as a PowerPoint presentation. My intent was both to make it easy for my manager to understand my request and, perhaps more importantly, as a way to collect and organize my thoughts, as I’ve never been good at asking for a raise.

The PPT deck ran about 10 slides. Each one had a short punchy headline (“The position I want,” The new responsibilities I want to take on,” “My track record,” “The salary increase I’m requesting”, etc.) and a minimal amount of bulleted text.

It worked—big time. And it was fun to see my manager nodding and smiling after seeing each slide.

@Adirondackwannabe Unfortunately, it’s hard to say how my efforts have affected the bottom line. In my details above, I mentioned a big construction project next to our store. I’ve worked here a little over two years, and construction has been going on the whole time. First, all the previous stores over there closed for demolition. Then the side street in front of our store was closed for six months, so we lost all our customer parking. (There really isn’t much public transit here either.) The big main road next to us has also had two out of three lanes closed in each direction for the last two months or so.

The construction has REALLY affected business. And once it’s finished, we’re anticipating a huge increase in business. During the time I’ve been here, there’s never been a baseline “normal” amount of revenue. So the stuff I’m working on has probably helped, but I can’t prove it.

Yes I saw that. Do you have gross sales numbers for the time involved? Can you outline what efforts you took to maintain sales, reduce overhead, or anywhere you made efforts to overcome the challenges the construction project presented. And how you positioned the store to prosper after the construction project finishes? I doubt you’ll get a raise based on expectations of future business. Or maybe document what you’ve done, then wait for the sales to trend up and then ask for the raise?

To start, because none of this is meant as negative, your work is worth more than you’re getting paid and probably more than what you’re asking. You’re good at what you do and you’re the type of employee small businesses dream of having. It sounds like you know that and they probably know that. Unfortunately those facts don’t have a lot to do with how much you get paid.

You’re going to get paid what that particular business can afford, or, hopefully, based on what business you bring in directly (and they don’t want to lose).

A 35% raise is a huge raise without a major change in responsibilities. It sounds like you’ve already taken on the responsibilities and now just want to compensated for the role you’re in. So I’d present it that way, show the responsibilities beyond your role that you have taken on and how they affect the store. Numbers are best, but having happier repeat customers or a sense of community are valuable and valid too.

Everyone has a boss, even small business owners, so understand your boss (even if he is the owner) has expectations on him as well. You have to figure it’s going to be another $1000+ dollars per month off their bottom line to pay you at the rate you’re looking for. Try to help him meet the expectations on him while giving you more money.

Most of all, if you’re going to ask for more, and know you’re worth it, you have to be prepared to leave for something more rewarding, however you define that. It’s the only real leverage you have. If he loves negotiating he’ll be assessing the likelihood of you actually leaving during your conversation. You don’t have to say you will leave, but just don’t start by saying you won’t.

Good luck!

You have good case but the weak point is that your efforts are not yet reflected in increased sales. Because of this, and if your boss like to negotiate, I would suggest you ask for a big raise for Christmas and say that if sales don’t rocket you will be prepared to take a cut back to your previous salary in a years time.

@Adirondackwannabe “Can you outline what efforts you took to maintain sales, reduce overhead, or anywhere you made efforts to overcome the challenges the construction project presented. And how you positioned the store to prosper after the construction project finishes? I doubt you’ll get a raise based on expectations of future business. Or maybe document what you’ve done, then wait for the sales to trend up and then ask for the raise?”

All these specific questions are very helpful. I’ve done a couple things over the last two years to deal with the construction. We’re part of the new resident welcome package at all the apartment buildings in walking distance, and I’ve cold-called local businesses to make catering sales. We also deliver locally, so I made a big push to grow our delivery business. I found out about government grants for small businesses affected by construction, made a facebook and google plus page for the business, and now I’m building the website. Basically I’m chasing dollars all day, and my boss knows that.

The construction project finishing is also why we’ve been expanding the selection. Over the last two months, I made a VERY through and well-reasoned list for each wine-producing part of the world, and explained them to my boss in detail. There’s going to be a grocery store in the new development, and they will carry basic grocery store wines. So we’re adding smaller producers and more interesting wines from around the world in order to be competitive. I’ve also been putting together a grand re-opening which is this Saturday.

It does sound like I’ll have to wait until business picks up to ask. I think early December might be a good time.

Ask for less hours to pay for your raise. Then later ask for more hours at the same pay. Then repeat.

I totally agree with @Adirondackwannabe‘s two posts. You have to be able to demonstrate how you’ve affected their business. So yes there’s construction and that’s had a negative impact, but what have you done to counter that situation? How has your work helped shore up the branch’s achievements and profits? You have to show them why you’re worth more money and why they can’t afford to lose you.

I’ve never asked for a raise myself, since I get paid at collectively bargained rates, so I’m going to agree with @Adirondackwannabe. But I can’t believe you only get $30,000 for all that work. That’s $3,000 below what a full time worker on minimum wage earns in my country. Tell your boss if you don’t get the raise you want, you’ll move to Australia, and get at least $55,000 for the same work. (Ok, maybe not the best tactic, but it’s true!)

@FireMadeFlesh, plus compulsory superannuation payments, 38 hour week, 10 days sick leave, 4 weeks annual leave, and universal health care.

Come on down @Haleth although I’m not sure how this info will help you negotiate a pay rise. $30,000 per year seems very low.

Yes, it sounds like you’ve put in a lot of work, but has that work been beneficial? Has the expanded wine selection increased sales or just increased the store’s overhead? Has the Facebook page really increased business or is it just a vanity page? You say you’re chasing dollars, but how many of those dollars have actually ended up in the store’s coffers? You admit that you can’t really say how your work has effected the bottom line. That’s a problem for you in asking for a raise. My advice would be to wait until you can show a quantifiable results from your efforts before asking for a raise, especially so large a raise.

ROI for marketing is notoriously difficult to know even if you have complete access to the books and perfect information.

As an extreme example, businesses pay millions of dollars for naming rights to stadiums. What’s the return on those efforts?

A more everyday example would be someone who searches on their phone for a liquor store. They notice several close by via Google and go to Yelp to find one that fits what they want. One has good reviews due to it’s excellent selection of wines and knowledgable staff, so they visit that store and buy several wines for a party they’re hosting at the recommendation of the staff.

What factor won that business for the company?
– placement on google?
– review on Yelp?
– excellent selection?
– knowledgable staff?
– having enough staff available when they come in?
– location?
– price?

All of the above and probably a lot more. The same buyer wouldn’t go to a place that looked “sketchy” or that looked closed due to construction or had no parking. But the person won’t come in and tell their story, they just want wine, easily.

There won’t be a perfect time with perfect information. But if you ask for nothing, you get nothing.