Your phone buzzes with the recruiter's name on it, and you can tell from their voice that it's good news. In the next two minutes they'll name a salary and wait. A counter offer phone script keeps you from blurting "yes, great" at the first number, because on a call you can't delete a sentence the way you can in an email. This guide covers two calls. On the first one, the job offer call, you mostly listen before asking for time to think. The second is the one where you name your number and then stay quiet while they think about it.
The job offer phone call script
When the recruiter tells you the number, you're not deciding anything yet. Your only goals are to sound pleased, learn the whole package and get it in writing. Say something close to this:
"Thank you, that's really good to hear. Could you walk me through the whole package, including the bonus and the time off?"
Write down everything they say, especially anything that sounds vague, like "a competitive bonus." When they've finished, ask for time to think it over.
"This is great, thank you. I'd like to look over the details properly before I give you an answer. Could you email it to me, and is it OK if I come back to you by Thursday?"
Name a day. A specific day sounds organized. "A few days" sounds like you're shopping the offer around. Pushed to close on the spot? This line costs you nothing:
"I appreciate that, and I'm excited about the job. It's a big decision, and I'd rather give you a clear yes than a rushed one."
At this point you've neither accepted nor countered, and you've bought yourself a calm evening with the numbers.
Counter offer phone script for the second call
Say the offer was $78,000 and you've settled on $84,000, about 7.7 percent more. Before dialing, go back to the original posting. Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act makes employers disclose pay in every job posting there, and a number of other states and cities have similar rules. If the posting showed a range that tops out above the offer, you already know there's room.
Then call, or ask for a call, and use this. The pauses are part of the script.
"Thanks for sending everything over. I've read it all, and I really want this job."
(pause for a second or so)
"There's one thing I'd like to talk about, which is the base salary. With the reporting work this role covers and what similar jobs pay here, I'm asking for eighty-four thousand."
(now stop talking and wait)
Those two lines run to 46 words. Our interview answer generator plans spoken answers at about 140 words a minute, a calm pace, which puts this script at about 20 seconds. If your version takes a minute, you're explaining too much.
Say the number whole, like a price. "Eighty-four thousand" lands. "Somewhere in the low to mid eighties" invites them to hear eighty-one. For your reason, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by occupation for states and metro areas in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program; the May 2025 figures came out on May 15, 2026. "The BLS figures for this job in our metro" is six words long and very hard to argue with.
The silence after the number
Now the hardest ten seconds of the call. Your brain wants to fill the gap. "But I'm flexible." "If that's at all possible." Each one hands back a piece of what you just asked for. Count in your head, slowly. The recruiter is doing math, or working out what they're allowed to say. They'll speak first.
Rehearse it the night before, out loud. Read your two lines to a friend and have them stay silent for 15 seconds. Feel how long that is. After 15 seconds at home, eight on the real call feels like nothing.
What to say back when the recruiter answers
Recruiters tend to reply in one of a handful of ways. Have your next line ready for each.
"Let me see what I can do."
They're off to ask someone. "Thank you, I appreciate it. When do you think you'll hear back?" Then stop. Don't hand them a lower number to make their job easier.
"That's above the band for this role."
Maybe true. Maybe a first no. Try "That makes sense, could you tell me where the top of the band is?" Polite question, factual answer, and if the top is above $78,000 there's room.
"Why that number?"
They need a sentence to carry to the hiring manager. Repeat your reason once, calmly, in the same words. Don't add new reasons, since a long list sounds less sure than one good one.
"Could you start at the offer and we'll review it in six months?"
The offer of a review is sometimes sincere, and sometimes it's a polite way of saying no for now, so reply, "I'd be open to that if the review and the target number are written into the offer letter." A promise that only lives in a phone call tends to fade by month six.
"Do you have another offer?"
Tell the truth here, whichever way it goes. If you do have one, give the number. If you don't, say, "Not in writing yet, I'm asking because of the scope of this role." A made-up offer is the one bluff that can cost you the job.
End the call with a date, then send a recap
Before hanging up: "What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear from you?" A date turns a friendly chat into a plan. It also lets you follow up later without feeling like a pest.
Within the hour, a short email puts the number on record. Something like: "Thanks for talking with me today. As we discussed, I'm asking for a base of $84,000, and you'll check with Sam and come back to me by Friday." If you'd rather make the whole counter in writing, or you froze on the call and want a second go, our guide to the counter offer email has a template and three examples.
Honestly, freezing happens to plenty of people. You haven't signed anything, so you can call back the next day and say, "I've now read the full package, and I'd like to ask about the base before I sign."
Getting your lines from our generator
Our counter offer email generator has a Phone script format. Job title, both numbers, one reason, a tone, then Phone script instead of Email. Back come three short lines meant to be read aloud, plus a line beginning "If they say no:" with one thing to say next. No subject line, no greeting. It's told not to invent offers or market numbers you didn't give it. Read the lines aloud twice. Any word you'd never say, change.
FAQ
What should I say when a recruiter calls with a job offer?
Thank them. Ask for the whole package, walked through, then in writing. Ask for a day or two and name the day you'll answer. Accept nothing and counter nothing on that first call.
Is it better to negotiate salary by phone or by email?
They do different jobs. Phone for tone, and for hearing how they react. Email for getting the exact number on record. Plenty of people counter on the call and confirm by email the same day.
What if I panic and accept on the call?
Call or email back within a day, before you've signed anything, and ask your question. One sentence. One apology at most.
How long can I take to respond to a job offer?
Two or three business days is normal. Need longer? Say so, and give a date.