There is a word that will pay you thousands of dollars each time you say it.See if you can guess:it's got four letters, you won't find it in the dictionary, you use it practically every day, and it will put money in the bank almost every time.

It's "Hmmm." 

In negotiating lingo, this response is a "flinch," a response that indicates you are less than excited about the other person's offer.  You can use a "flinch" in any negotiation.  Now, here's another powerful word—it only has two letters: "OK."

Say, "OK" and bam!Those two letters just cost you plenty!
How much did they cost you?Those two letters may have...

A)  Flushed your new $1000 bicycle down the toilet;
B)  Ripped off your $3000 Pentium 4 500 MHz/100 gigabyte computer, with printer, scanner, fax and CD burner.
C)  Canceled your reservations for a $5000 two-week dream trip to an exotic location;
D)  Burned the blueprints for the $10,000 addition to your house;
E)  Yanked your kid out of college because you were $25K short.

How could that one word be so powerful?  Easy. "OK" is what most people say in re­sponse to a salary offer.  They mean "I'll accept what you've just offered, thank you."

Depending on where your salary is to begin with, you could lose A, B, C, D, or E.But you could also keep it, and more besides, if you learn even one small negotiating technique:change the "OK" to a "Hmmm," and watch what happens.
If you're at minimum wage, and the employer says, "$5.15 an hour," an "OK" will freeze it right there.But a "Hmmm" response could increase it, and just 50 cents an hour more will earn you $1000 extra in a year of 40-hour weeks.That's easily a fine new bicycle--or a year's car insurance--or a month's rent on a great apartment.

The same goes for all other levels, too.A simple "Hmmm" instead of "OK" can change a $25,000 salary into $28,000 and finance your new computer system.$45,000 can be pushed to $50,000, affording you that much-needed two-week vacation.

The "Hmmm" response can drop another ten grand in the bank for high-level executives, and senior-level execs can buy a $25K freshman year for a daughter or son by swallowing the "OK."If you can manage that swallow, you can negotiate a better salary.

Don't worry that the employer will change his or her mind about hiring you just because you ask for more. If you've interviewed well (and you must have done that, or you wouldn't be getting an offer!), you're the front-runner already.Choosing the second best, or going through the whole recruiting-interviewing-hiring process again, will cost a company more than $1,500, perhaps $5,000 in the long run.Odds are, you'll get that little extra, and the employer will still consider it a good bargain to avoid that hassle.The worst that happens is you Don't get more, but your boss knows you know you're worth it.

Besides, you probably aren't even pushing employers higher than they expected to go anyway.Good managers always start low to give themselves negotiating room.They might even really want to give you more, but if you say, "OK," you tie their hands!Then there is no gracious way to raise the offer.

Even if you're so excited about the offer that you're ready to dance a jig, make your first response a flinch!

How do you carry off an effective flinch?First, make sure you repeat the figure they give you, so the interviewer knows you haven't fallen asleep or tuned him out!Then, look vaguely unhappy, frown, and say something like, "Hmmm," or, "$X/hour?Hmmm.Isn't that a little low?"Or, "$X/hour.Hmmm, is that the best you can do?"Then stare down at the floor and count to thirty.
Paradoxically, when you do this, you Don't just get more money from your potential employer; you make him or her feel better about it, too!How's that possible?

Think of when you sold your car. If Mr. Buyer had eagerly accepted your first offer, you'd think, "Phooey!I could have gotten more!" Instead, he flinched and said, "Hmmm, that's a little high." Then he offered less than what he expected to pay.You haggled with him, and you both gave in a little (but you'd padded the price to allow for negotiating).End result:you both felt satisfied.Likewise, your future employer will most likely give in and offer a bit extra--he/she allowed room for negotiating too.You both win:you have more cash and the employer has increased respect for you and his/her hiring savvy.

No matter what your level, there's money to be made by changing "OK" to "Hmmm." 

Whether you're a hamburger flipper, or a shift supervisor of burger flippers, or an executive negotiating a regional marketing position for a burger-flipping chain, Don't say, "OK"; say, "Hmmm."