Counteroffer conversation script for agency recruiters

A counteroffer conversation is the call you make when a candidate who accepted your client's offer is offered more to stay. The script is simple: listen, get the counteroffer's details, go back to the reasons the candidate gave you for leaving, compare both offers against those reasons, and let them decide. Most of the work happens earlier, at the screen and the pre-close, where you ask what would make them stay before anyone has offered it.

This page has wording for each stage and a side-by-side worksheet. It deliberately contains no figures on how often counteroffers "fail": the numbers passed around in recruiting rarely have a source you could show a candidate, and they are not needed. The candidate's own reasons are the stronger argument.

What a counteroffer can and cannot fix

Counteroffers are usually built from what an employer can change quickly: base pay, a title, sometimes a promotion date or a remote day. Whether that is enough depends entirely on why the candidate was looking. Use this table when you write up the screen and again when the counter lands.

Early: questions at the screen and the pre-close

You cannot have a useful counteroffer conversation with a candidate whose reasons you never wrote down. Ask these on the phone screen and note the answers word for word:

AT THE SCREEN
"What has you open to a conversation right now?"
"What's missing in your current role?"
"Have you raised that with your manager? What happened?"
"What would have to change for you to stay?"

AT THE PRE-CLOSE (before the offer)
"When you tell your manager you're leaving, what do you think they'll do?"
"If they offered you [expected number] to stay, what would you say?"
"Would that change [reason they gave at the screen, in their words]?"
"Is there anyone at work who'd push hard to keep you? What would they say?"

Rating the risk

A higher risk rating is not a reason to drop the candidate. It is a reason to tell the client early and to have the conversation below before the resignation, not after it.

Before the resignation: preparing the candidate

Plan the resignation together once the written offer is signed (the steps are in the offer call script). Then prepare them for what they may hear. Keep it factual and about their decision, not a warning about their employer.

"When you resign, your manager may ask you to wait, ask what it would
take, or come back with an offer. That's normal, and it's a compliment.

Before you go in, let's write down the three reasons you gave me for
leaving: [reason 1], [reason 2], [reason 3].

If they make an offer, you don't need to answer in the room. You can
say: 'Thank you, I appreciate that. I've made my decision, and I'd like
to focus on a good handover.'

If you find yourself tempted, call me before you give them an answer.
Not to talk you out of it, but so you're deciding with both offers in
front of you."

What they may hear, and a calm reply

When a counteroffer arrives: the conversation script

The candidate calls, or goes quiet, which often means the same thing. Call them. Do not open by arguing.

1. Listen first
"Thanks for telling me. Tell me what happened when you resigned."
[Let them talk. Don't interrupt with objections.]

2. Get the details
"What exactly did they offer? Base, title, anything else?"
"Is it in writing? When do they want an answer?"
"Who made the offer: your manager, or someone above them?"

3. Go back to their reasons
"When we first spoke, you said you were looking because '[their exact
words]'. Does this offer change that?"
[Repeat for each reason. Wait for each answer.]

4. Ask about the time before the resignation
"Had you asked for any of this before you resigned? What did they say
then?"

5. Compare, without selling
"Let's put both side by side: what you'd have if you stay, and what
you'd have at [Client], against the reasons you gave me."
[Use the worksheet below.]

6. The decision question
"Setting the money aside for a moment: a year from now, where do you
want to be working, and why?"

7. Respect the answer
If they're staying: "Thank you for being straight with me. Is that
final?"
If they're going: "Then let's get your reply to them settled today, so
the next four weeks are about the handover."

Step 4 is the one candidates think about longest. If they asked for the raise last year and were refused, they will draw their own conclusion. You do not need to draw it for them.

A side-by-side worksheet

Fill this in with the candidate on the call, or send it and walk through it. An invented example follows the blank version.

COUNTEROFFER COMPARISON — [Candidate] — [Date]

                         STAY (with counter)     GO ([Client])
Base                     [ ]                     [ ]
Variable / bonus         [ ]                     [ ]
Title and scope          [ ]                     [ ]
Manager                  [ ]                     [ ]
Work pattern             [ ]                     [ ]
In writing?              [ ]                     [ ]

Their reasons for leaving (their words):
1. "[ ]"                 Changed? [Y / N / partly]
2. "[ ]"                 Changed? [Y / N / partly]
3. "[ ]"                 Changed? [Y / N / partly]

What they'd be working on in 6 months:   [ ]      [ ]
What they said they'd regret:            [ ]

Telling the client, and whether to match

Tell the client the same day you hear about a counteroffer, even if you expect the candidate to hold. A client who finds out on the planned start date loses trust in every later placement.

"Dana, a heads-up on Priya. She resigned this morning and her employer has offered her more to stay: base up about ten thousand, same role. I've talked it through with her. Her reasons for leaving were the platform move and the lack of product work, and the counter doesn't change either. I expect her to hold, and I'll confirm by 5 pm tomorrow. If you want to do anything, a call from you today welcoming her would help more than money."

Should the client match or beat the counter?

• Usually no, if the candidate accepted at a number they told you they would accept. Raising it now tells the candidate the first offer was not the real one.
• Consider it if the original offer was below what the candidate asked for and they accepted reluctantly. Then fix it once, as a final move, and say why.
• Non-cash moves often work better: a call from the hiring manager, an earlier start, a meeting with the team, clarity on the first project.

When to walk away

Sometimes the counteroffer is the right answer for the candidate. A recruiter who pushes a candidate out of a situation that now works for them earns one fee and loses a relationship. Let them go when:

• The counteroffer genuinely changes the reasons they gave you: a real promotion with a different scope, a new manager, a documented move to the work they wanted.
• They tell you, clearly and more than once, that they want to stay.
• The only arguments left are ones you would have to exaggerate.

"Thank you for talking it through with me. It sounds like staying is
the right call for you, and they've addressed what mattered. I'll let
[Client] know today. I'd like to stay in touch. If anything changes,
or when you're ready for your next move, I hope you'll call me."

Then write down what you learned. A candidate who resigned without having raised pay internally, and accepted a pay counter, tells you what to ask more carefully at the next screen. The early signals are also covered in the candidate debrief after the client interview, which is often where doubts first show.

What not to say