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Sample bundle

Here’s what a $299 Fast Counteroffer Bundle looks like

A fictional Family Medicine physician in Texas with a typical hospital-employed offer. Every number below is drawn from salaryDr’s peer dataset. Your bundle is written to your offer, specialty, state, and priorities — typically delivered within a few hours.

Fictional composite. Not real physician data. Numbers reflect typical ranges for the specialty + state + setting shown.

01Counteroffer Plan

Dr. Jordan K.’s one-page ask

Family Medicine · Texas · Hospital-employed · N=94 peer submissions

Opening ask

Raise base salary from $255,000 toward $295,000, with $55/wRVU as the fallback if base is capped.

Target package

$295,000 base salary, $55/wRVU above threshold, and $35,000 sign-on bonus.

Fallback package

If base is capped near $260,000, accept the base and ask for $55/wRVU, a Year-2 retention bonus, and a $35,000 sign-on.

Why this ask is defensible

  • Base salary is $40,000 below the 75th percentile for the Texas hospital-employed Family Medicine cohort.
  • $/wRVU is $13 below the 75th percentile, making productivity rate the strongest fallback lever.
  • The physician is local to DFW, lowering recruiting risk for the employer.

Do not push

  • Do not overstate peer data as guaranteed compensation.
  • Do not trade call schedule or tail coverage away for a small base bump.
  • Do not sign before attorney review of the contract language.

First move

Thank them for the offer, then lead with the base salary gap and ask whether they can move closer to $295,000 before discussing fallback levers.
02Strategy memo

Dr. Jordan K.’s negotiation plan

Family Medicine · Texas · Hospital-employed · N=94 peer submissions

Executive summary

Jordan's offer from a hospital-employed Family Medicine role in Texas places base salary at $255,000 — below the median of $265,000 for a peer cohort of N=94 and $40,000 below the 75th percentile of $295,000. The productivity rate of $42/wRVU is also materially below the peer median of $48 and the p75 of $55. Top opportunity: lift base salary toward $295,000 and the $/wRVU rate toward $55.

Stated priorities

The client ranked base salary, $/wRVU rate, and sign-on bonus as the core negotiation priorities. Constraints: family is settled in the DFW metro — relocation is not an option. No competing offer in hand, but aware of another role interviewing.

Offer snapshot

Base salary: $255,000/yr (Y1–Y2). $/wRVU: $42.00 above a 5,200 wRVU threshold. Sign-on bonus: $20,000. CME budget: $3,500/yr. PTO: 4 weeks. Call: 1:8 home call, inpatient coverage shared with group.

Peer benchmark

Peer cohort: Family Medicine / Texas / Hospital-employed, N=94 salaryDr submissions. Median base $265,000, 75th percentile $295,000, 90th percentile $325,000. Median $/wRVU $48, 75th percentile $55.

Peer percentiles

Metric25thMedian75th90th
Base salary$240,000$265,000$295,000$325,000
Total comp$280,000$310,000$345,000$385,000
$/wRVU rate$48$55

Gap analysis

ComponentYour offer75th pctGapVerdict
base salary$255,000$295,000+$40,000p25 to p50
total compensation$295,000$345,000+$50,000p25 to p50
rvu rate$42$55+$13p25 to p50

Prioritized asks

Ask 01

Raise base salary from $255,000 toward $295,000 (75th percentile)

The p75 for Family Medicine + Hospital-employed + Texas is $295,000 based on 94 peer submissions. Jordan's offer is $40,000 below that anchor. Given Jordan's residency performance and community ties to the DFW metro, there's a credible case for moving toward p75 rather than sitting below median.

Based on peer data I pulled, the 75th percentile for Family Medicine in Texas hospital-employed roles is $295,000. I was hoping we could close the gap between the current offer and that number, recognizing both my board scores and the fact that I'm already established in DFW.

Ask 02

Raise $/wRVU from $42 toward $55 (75th percentile)

The p75 $/wRVU rate across the same cohort is $55. A $13/wRVU lift applied to the 5,200 wRVU threshold alone is +$67,600/yr at threshold production — more upside above. Even if base salary doesn't move, raising the productivity rate significantly changes the year-one realized comp.

If base salary is capped by your budget, would you be open to raising the $/wRVU rate from $42 to closer to $55? That keeps your fixed cost flat while letting me earn toward peer benchmarks as I ramp productivity.

Ask 03

Raise sign-on bonus from $20,000 toward $35,000

Sign-on bonuses in the same cohort commonly land at $25,000–$50,000 with relocation-exempt candidates often landing in the higher range since they reduce the employer's recruiting risk. A bumped sign-on is typically easier to move than base.

Given I'm not relocating and represent a low recruiting risk for you, would an increased sign-on of $35,000 be something your finance team could approve? Sign-on is typically easier than base because it doesn't carry through into future years.

Trade matrix

Lead with base salary. If the employer holds firm below $275,000, pivot to the $/wRVU rate as the next lever — it's often easier to move because it doesn't directly show up in the group's fixed comp pool. If both base and rate are capped, pivot to sign-on and CME — both are typically within the hiring manager's discretionary budget. Avoid trading non-compensation items (call schedule, clinical hours) for comp — those affect quality of life, not leverage.

Talking points

  • Your research comes from salaryDr's peer dataset: 94 Family Medicine physicians in Texas hospital-employed roles.
  • You are specifically asking to close the gap between your current offer and the 75th percentile — not the 90th.
  • You understand the employer has budget constraints and are open to creative structures (higher $/wRVU rate, larger sign-on, CME bump).
  • You are established in the DFW metro and represent a low recruiting risk — that's worth something to the employer.
  • You will have your employment attorney review the final contract before signing.
03Contract markup

Clauses worth a close look

Not legal review — we flag clauses that touch your negotiation levers or structural risks. Items flagged attorney review are outside our scope.

Non-compete — 15 miles / 24 months

In our Family Medicine / Texas / Hospital-employed cohort (N=94), the median non-compete is 10 miles and 12 months. A 15-mile / 24-month clause is broader than ~70% of peers. Most physicians who push back get the radius dropped to 10 miles and the duration to 12 months without losing the offer. Your attorney will tell you if the specific clause is enforceable in Texas — we're telling you it's wider than the market, which is what matters at the negotiating table.

Flagged for attorney review

Tail (malpractice) coverage

Your contract is silent on who pays the tail. In hospital-employed Family Medicine roles, 72% of peers in our cohort have employer-paid tail. Asking for employer-paid tail is a market-standard ask; it's the single item most often conceded without any base-salary tradeoff. Your attorney evaluates carrier adequacy and policy terms — ours is a benchmark call: this is leverage you're leaving on the table.

Flagged for attorney review

Productivity compensation — Section 4(c)

Confirm the $/wRVU rate applies to all wRVUs above the 5,200 threshold (no cap). Also verify that PTO weeks don't pro-rate the threshold down — some employers penalize productivity compensation for time off, which meaningfully hurts high-volume physicians. In our cohort, a 12-week cap on productivity bonus was stripped out in 58% of negotiations where it was challenged.

Severity: medium

Year 3 compensation structure — Section 5(b)

The Y3 transition to a base-salary-plus-draw structure can change realized comp substantially. If the Y3 base is lower than Y1–Y2, confirm the productivity rate is raised to compensate. If it's not, ask directly what drives the drop. In 4 of the last 10 negotiations in our dataset, the physician negotiated either a higher Y3 base or a higher Y3 $/wRVU — the structure IS movable.

Severity: high

Termination-without-cause notice period

Check the notice period (often 30, 60, or 90 days) and whether there's a 'cure' period for alleged breaches. 90-day notice on both sides is standard in our cohort; 30-day favors the employer. Your attorney can check the cure-period language; we'll just note that 30-day notice is an ask worth making.

Severity: low

04Email & phone scripts

Copy-paste ready scripts

Counter-offer email

Dear [Hiring Manager],

Thank you for the offer for the Family Medicine position. I've had a chance to review it against peer-submitted compensation data (Family Medicine / Texas / Hospital-employed, N=94 salaryDr submissions) and would like to come back with a few thoughts.

First, on base salary: the 75th percentile for this cohort is $295,000. Recognizing my residency performance and that I'm already established in the DFW metro (representing a low recruiting risk to you), I'd like to work toward closing the $40,000 gap between the current offer and that anchor.

Second, on the $/wRVU rate: the peer median is $48 and the 75th percentile is $55. If the base is constrained, I'd be open to trading for a higher productivity rate — it keeps your fixed cost flat while letting me earn toward market as I ramp.

Third, on sign-on bonus: given I'm not relocating, $35,000 is a package that reflects the lower recruiting risk of a local hire.

I'm genuinely excited about the role and would love to find a structure that works for both of us. Happy to jump on a call to walk through the specifics.

Best,
Jordan

Phone opener

Thanks for taking the call. I've had a chance to review the offer carefully and I'm really excited about the role. I did want to walk through a few items with you before we move forward. The biggest one is base salary — based on peer data I pulled for Family Medicine in Texas hospital-employed positions, the 75th percentile is $295,000 and the current offer is $40,000 below that. Is there room to revisit that number?

Pushback handles

"Our budget for this role is capped at $260,000."

I hear you on the budget. One option is to structure a portion as a retention bonus at Year 2, or to raise the $/wRVU rate so I earn more above threshold. That way the fixed cost stays at $260K but I have a path to the peer benchmark through productivity. What would be workable on your end?

"The other physicians in the group earn the same as this — we can't break internal equity."

I appreciate the equity point — that's important. The peer data I'm referencing is a market benchmark across 94 similar roles, not meant to break internal equity. If base is fixed by group structure, are there other levers — CME, admin time, retention bonus, sign-on — where there's more flexibility? Those don't affect the group's base-salary parity.

"We don't typically negotiate our standard offers."

Understood — I want to be respectful of your process. If the base is genuinely non-negotiable, I'm interested in understanding which parts of the package are flexible. Sign-on, start date, CME budget, and productivity rate are all areas where I'd be open to finding common ground. What gives you the most room?

"How firm is that peer data?"

salaryDr aggregates self-reported compensation from 10,000+ physicians. The cohort I referenced is 94 Family Medicine hospital-employed physicians in Texas, so it's tightly scoped to your role. I'm happy to share the one-pager with the percentile breakdown if it would help your conversation internally.

"We'd rather not talk about numbers until after you've signed."

I understand. For a decision this big I do need to have clarity on the full package before I can sign. Would it be easier to get the written draft to me first, and then we can work through any adjustments together? I'm not asking for a verbal — just visibility into the terms.

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Scope reminder

salaryDr Negotiations provides negotiation strategy and peer-data benchmarking. It is not legal advice. Please retain an employment attorney to review the full contract before signing. Peer data is physician-self-reported and not independently audited.