Draft a Confident Salary Counteroffer Email

This prompt drafts a salary counteroffer email that stays firm without sounding defensive — the hardest balance to strike when you're negotiating your own compensation. It pins the ask to market data and your specific skills so the number reads as justified rather than greedy, and it forces a single line of genuine enthusiasm so the employer doesn't read the counter as cold feet. Use it once you have an offer in hand and a target figure you can defend.

What you can expect back

Subject: Re: Senior Product Manager Offer

Hi [Recruiter name],

Thank you for the offer — I'm genuinely excited about the Senior PM role and the chance to build with the Brightline team.

After reviewing market data for this role and level, comparable positions are landing closer to $135,000. Given my track record launching two 0-to-1 products and managing a $2M roadmap, I'd like to propose a base of $130,000.

I'm confident I'll deliver well beyond that, and I'm hoping we can align here. Happy to talk it through whenever works for you.

Best,
[Your name]

Illustrative example — your results will vary by tool and inputs.

Get sharper results

• 01Anchor your [TARGET] slightly above the number you'd actually accept so there's room to settle in the middle without dropping below your real floor.
• 02Keep the market-rate justification to one clause — listing three sources reads as nervous over-explaining; confidence comes from brevity.
• 03Ask the model for a version that counters on total comp (signing bonus, equity, PTO) in case the company says base salary is capped.
• 04Tell the model to put the enthusiasm sentence first, before the ask — leading with excitement makes the counter feel collaborative rather than transactional.
• 05Have it generate a two-sentence verbal version too, so you're ready if the recruiter calls instead of emailing back.

Adapt it for your case