Sales Service Advice | Grants For Business Women.

By Roxanne Batson

Are you making what you're really worth?

Most business women, women managers and women business owners still don't make the same income for the same work as men. It's not entirely the fault of the corporation.

The problem is that companies exist to produce profits. Men and women executives are charged with the mission of building a profitable company. Therefore, when hiring women managers as well as their male counterparts, the goal is to get the best and most talented worker for the least possible amount.

Though hourly workers might make the same hourly wage, management talent is not given the same equal playing field. This is because skills and needs may vary depending on the person being hired and the company doing the hiring.

The same is true for hiring consultants and outsourcing work. The goal mandated by the shareholders for the company is, and should be, to get the most talent while paying out the least possible. If you owned shares in a company wouldn't you want it to be highly profitable? Of course you would.

So if you are a woman manager or woman business owner who feels you are not making enough, you need to give up depending on fairness and begin depending on yourself to ask and get what you're worth!

I learned the hard way what the differences are in the way women in business think versus men in business.

As a young careerist, I interviewed with and was hired by the manager of the local office of a Fortune 500 company. I was to be the first female financial consultant in that office. One woman among twenty men.

I was taken by surprise when they asked me what salary I required. I assumed it was set for everyone. The reason they asked us to set it, though, was because it set the target for us to produce revenue. If we weren't profitable to the company then at some point they would have to consider letting us go.

It never once occurred to me that if I asked for more and didn't make it, at least I'd be paid well along the way. After all, I was taking the risk on the company and the products and services just like they were taking a risk on me.

Nobody told me to shoot higher than I thought I was worth. But that's exactly what most men do.

As a rule, men will ask for more than they believe the job is worth in order to have negotiating room. It's a whole lot easier to go down than it is to ask for more once you've stated your price.

According to the author of 'Secrets of Six-Figure Women' this ploy is part of protocol for management. She says 'According to a recent poll by the Society for Human Resource Management, more than 80% of the HR professionals said they expect counteroffers.'

Many women in business are not self-confident when it comes to asking for a higher salary or consulting fee.

In my own case,as a less-than-confident female executive, I discovered later that I had asked almost HALF of what the men requested as their starting salary. Fortunately it all worked out as I surpassed my salary and increased my income within six months, but I'll never forget the lesson.

Here's some statistics gathered from the Dow Jones company salary reports:

* A Consumer Loan Branch Manager in Cincinnati, Ohio should make approximately $80,416 on average. But get this...the high is $106,929 and the low is $54,023. Quite a spread!

* A Customer Service Manager in Austin, Texas makes an average of $51,955 but the low is $40,203 and the high is $72,425 and the US National average is $60,933 and the high is $84,941.

* In Orange County, California a Vice President of Purchasing averages $109,549 with a low of $69,838 and a high of $172,683.

* In Atlanta, Georgia a Social Work Director earns an average of $85,053 with a low of $47,139 and high of $114,065.

While it's possible the highest paid person in that field has a more demanding job than the lowest paid, it is also probably fair to assume that some of this difference is accounted for by how well the person negotiated. This kind of information is also fruitful for business women because it helps us understand that there is a broad range and we should do the research.

If you feel less than confident in asking for what you want, try this. Every single day before you ask for that consulting fee or salary or raise look at yourself in the mirror and repeat "I give my best and I am worth it!" Then practice, practice, practice asking for it.

Watch out! You might just get what you want.

About the Author: Roxanne Batson is the Managing Partner of WomenCorp, a company that delivers workshops, coaching and mentoring for business women to achieve personal and financial success. Get the newsletter here http://www.womencorp.org/wcinvitepage2.html

Source: www.isnare.com