Your top candidate just told you they have two other offers. One pays $20K more than yours. Another is from a bigger-name company. Yours offers the best growth opportunity, but that's harder to quantify than salary.

Most recruiters panic at this point. They either start a bidding war they can't win, or they give up and move on to other candidates.

Both approaches are wrong. Here's how to win competing offer situations with strategy, not just money.

First: Stay Calm And Get Information

When a candidate says "I have other offers," your first move isn't to counter—it's to understand what you're competing against.

Questions to ask:

"Congrats on the other offers! Can you share what companies they're from and what the roles are?" (Understand the competition.)

"What's the comp structure for each offer?" (Base, bonus, equity, benefits—get specifics.)

"What timeline are you working with for making a decision?" (How much time do you have to respond?)

"What's most important to you as you evaluate these options?" (Money? Growth? Company brand? Work-life balance?)

"How are you thinking about the tradeoffs between the offers?" (What's their decision-making framework?)

Why this matters: You can't compete effectively if you don't know what you're competing against. And you need to understand what actually matters to the candidate—not what you assume matters.

Don't Immediately Increase Your Offer

The instinct is to panic and raise your offer. Resist that instinct.

Why:

You don't know if comp is the real factor: Maybe they care more about remote flexibility or growth opportunity. Raising comp when that's not the deciding factor wastes budget.

You set a bad precedent: If you raise your offer every time someone says they have a competing offer, candidates learn to fake competitive offers to extract more money.

You might not need to: Sometimes your existing offer wins based on other factors. Don't bid against yourself.

You lose negotiating leverage: Once you raise your offer, that becomes the new baseline. You can't go back down.

Instead, validate your current offer against market and address concerns non-comp factors.

Address Non-Comp Differentiators First

Most candidates don't choose offers based purely on money. They choose based on the total package: comp, growth, culture, mission, team, flexibility.

Your goal: Make your non-comp value so clear that lower comp becomes acceptable.

Growth opportunity: "Let me walk you through what your career trajectory could look like here. In 12-18 months, you'd likely be promoted to [next level] based on what we've seen with similar hires. That comes with [comp increase, scope increase, title change]."

Make it tangible. Don't just say "great growth opportunity." Show them the path.

Team and manager quality: "You'd be working directly with [specific impressive people]. Let me set up a casual coffee chat with [person] so you can hear about their experience and ask questions."

Give them access. Let them talk to the people they'd work with.

Mission and impact: "The work you'd be doing directly impacts [specific outcome]. Here's a concrete example: [recent project] resulted in [measurable impact]."

Make it specific, not generic "changing the world" nonsense.

Work-life balance: "Our team has hard boundaries on after-hours work. [Manager] actively protects team time. Let me show you our average meeting hours and response time expectations."

Prove it with data, not vague promises.

Flexibility: "You'd have full control over your schedule and location. Here's how [current team member] structures their week: [specific example]."

Show, don't tell.

When You Do Need To Improve Your Offer

Sometimes comp is genuinely the issue, and you need to increase your offer to stay competitive.

Before you do, validate with hiring manager/leadership:

"Candidate has a competing offer at $X, which is [Y%] higher than ours. Based on their performance in interviews and market data, I believe they're worth an adjustment. Here's what I'm proposing: [specific ask]."

Get approval before making promises.

When you present the improved offer:

"I talked to leadership about your situation. Given your background and the competitive market, we're able to increase our offer to $X. This reflects how strongly we believe you'd be a great fit and the value you'd bring to the team."

Frame it as recognition of their value, not caving to pressure.

The Deadline Strategy

Candidates with multiple offers will often try to play companies off each other to maximize their offer. You need to establish boundaries:

Set a decision timeline:

"I completely understand you need time to evaluate your options. When do the other companies need an answer from you? I want to make sure we're aligned on timing."

Then:

"We'd love to have your decision by [date that aligns with their timeline]. Does that work for you?"

Why this matters: You're putting gentle pressure without being aggressive. You're also preventing them from stringing you along while they shop your offer.

The Exploding Offer Tactic (Use Carefully)

Some recruiters use "exploding offers"—offers that expire after a short period. This is controversial and can backfire.

When it makes sense:

• You have other strong candidates in process
• The role needs to be filled urgently
• The candidate has been dragging out the process

When it doesn't make sense:

• The candidate is your only strong option
• You've given them less than a week to decide
• It's a senior role where thoughtful consideration is expected

How to do it without being an asshole:

"I completely respect that you need time to make the right decision. At the same time, we have other candidates in final rounds and need to make a decision by [reasonable date—usually 5-7 days]. If you're not able to commit by then, we'll likely need to move forward with other options. Does that timeline work for you?"

This is firm but fair. You're explaining the business reality without pressuring them unfairly.

What To Do When You're Outbid And Can't Match

Sometimes you just can't compete on comp. They have an offer for $180K and your max is $150K. You're not matching that.

Your move: Acknowledge reality and shift to other values.

"I'm not going to BS you—we can't match $180K for this role. That's outside our budget and compensation structure. What I can tell you is that the offer we've made is our best and reflects market rate for this role at our company.

Here's what I can offer that they might not:

• [Specific growth opportunity]
• [Specific team/manager quality]
• [Specific flexibility or perks]
• [Specific mission/impact]

If comp is the most important factor right now, I completely understand if you take the other offer. But if you're optimizing for [growth/learning/impact/balance], I think we're the better choice. What matters most to you?"

This does two things:

1. You're being honest. Candidates respect that.
2. You're reframing the decision. Money vs. everything else.

When To Walk Away

Sometimes you lose. And that's okay. Here's when to gracefully exit:

The candidate is clearly using you for leverage: "Can you match $X?" → You match → "Actually, now they're offering $X+20K, can you match again?"

They're not genuinely interested in your company: Every conversation is about comp. They never ask about the work, team, or culture.

You've made your best offer and they're still shopping it: You've increased once. You've addressed their concerns. They're still pushing.

The other offer is objectively better and you can't compete: They're getting $50K more and equity at a pre-IPO company. You can't match that.

How to walk away gracefully:

"I appreciate you considering our offer. It sounds like [Other Company] is a great opportunity, and I don't want to stand in the way of what seems like the right move for you. If things don't work out or you're ever looking for a new opportunity down the road, I'd love to stay in touch."

Why this works:

• You're bowing out with dignity
• You're keeping the relationship intact
• You're leaving the door open for the future

The Follow-Up If They Take Another Offer

Candidates who decline your offer aren't lost forever. Stay in touch:

Immediate follow-up (within 24 hours of their decision):

"Congrats on your decision! I think [Company] is lucky to have you. If you ever want to grab coffee or chat about your experience there, I'd love to hear about it. And if things change down the road, we'd love to talk again."

3-month check-in:

"Hey [Name], hope you're settling in well at [Company]! Would love to hear how it's going. Let me know if you ever want to grab coffee."

6-month check-in (if they respond positively to the 3-month check-in):

"Hey [Name], checking in again. How's [Company] treating you? We have a few roles opening up that might be interesting if you're ever exploring. No pressure, just wanted to stay in touch."

Why this matters: People leave jobs. The candidate who declined your offer 6 months ago might be ready to make a move. And you already built a relationship.

The Bottom Line

When candidates have multiple offers, most recruiters either:

1. Panic and overpay
2. Give up and move on

Both are mistakes.

The strategy:

• Stay calm and gather information about competing offers
• Understand what actually matters to the candidate
• Address non-comp differentiators first (growth, team, mission, flexibility)
• Only increase comp if it's genuinely the deciding factor
• Set decision timelines to prevent being strung along
• Know when to walk away gracefully
• Stay in touch with candidates who decline—they might come back

You won't win every competing offer situation. But you'll win more by using strategy instead of just throwing money at the problem.

The Fast Version:

• Get details on competing offers before reacting
• Understand what matters most to the candidate beyond money
• Address growth, team, mission, and flexibility before raising comp
• Only increase your offer if comp is genuinely the deciding factor
• Set clear decision timelines
• Know when to walk away
• Stay in touch with candidates who decline