Acceptable answers to which include: “Well clearly you didn’t put this team of high performing people together by luck, so let’s table the negotiation for the moment and talk about whether this is a good fit, and if it is we will find a mutually acceptable number.”
This is saying “You’ve negotiated salaries before and will again and we both know this but since we’re both professionals I won’t call bullshit to your face.”
Another thing is asking “Roger with respect to your feelings on that component of the negotiation for the moment. Where do you have flexibility?”, nail down an increase there, then come back to salary.
