You’ve been working for a company for a while, you’ve taken on new responsibilities and excelled at them all. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed recently – your pay. If you find yourself in a position where you feel undervalued and underpaid, take these steps when asking for your much-deserved raise.

Demonstrate Your Value

When you ask for a raise, your position should be based around the value that you provide. If you go into the discussion without having quantifiable facts and figures, you’ll stand very little chance of getting what you ask for. Simply saying that you have bills to pay or that you’ve been showing up every day won’t be enough to convince management.

To demonstrate your value, talk about your responsibilities and the positive impact your work has made on the company. Your actions should justify your requested salary, show that you go above and beyond the expectations of your current role. By tracking all your accomplishments, you’ll be able to select the ones that best fit the situation.

Perform Market Research

Another area to focus on before the discussion is what others in the market are making. By researching salary data of those in a similar role or industry with comparable qualifications and responsibilities, you’ll get an understanding of what a realistic salary is and be in a better position to validate your worth.

To find this information, you can use websites like Glassdoor, Salary.com or PayScale. By sharing what other companies in the area are paying, you’ll be letting your employer know what they’ll have to do to remain competitive and retain top talent.

Choose Correct Time

Many things in life come down to timing and asking for a raise is no different. You may deserve the raise now but before you schedule a meeting with your supervisor consider the extenuating circumstances you find yourself in.

Consider how the company is doing. If they’re going through a slow period where downsizing is taking place, it’s probably not a great time to ask for more money. However, if the company is exceeding their targets and experiencing growth, they’ll be more likely to listen to and approve requests.

Beyond positive company performance, a few other times to ask for a raise would be during your annual performance review or after completing an important project.

Prepare for No

No matter how much you prepare and explain your value, there is still a chance you won’t be given your requested raise. If that happens, following up is critical. Find out why it’s not possible at the moment and determine what it will take to make it a reality. You should also ask when the issue can be discussed again.

If salary increases are off the table for the foreseeable future, consider other ways that you can increase your total compensation. Ask for perks such as more vacation time, a flexible work schedule or even a change to your job title. While these won’t provide the same monetary value, these benefits could provide an improved work environment.

Asking for a raise can be daunting but there’s little chance that you’ll get it if you don’t ask. Regardless of the outcome, you’ll get something from the process. If you get the raise, you’ll get the money that you sought after. If you don’t, all is not lost, you will understand your worth and become a better advocate for yourself.