When negotiating a deal such as pitching members on an overdue restoration, pining for a raise or trying to get the best price from a vendor on an early order program, providing too much information can adversely affect the outcome of the arbitration process.
"Skilled negotiators use fewer arguments to persuade the other party," said Bill Davis, Ph.D., a professor in the Wake Forest University business school. "The more arguments we make, it just gives the other party more ammunition to say 'no.' "
Instead, Davis, speaking at the Syngenta Business Institute in December said, those looking to strike a deal should identify their most critical points and stick to those.
"What are the most cogent arguments? More importantly, what are the most cogent arguments to my counterpart?" Davis said. "What will persuade them?"
The Syngenta Business Institute is a four-day educational and professional-development program presented by faculty from the Wake Forest School of Business designed to help superintendents expand their knowledge in non-turf curriculum like management, negotiating and accounting principles.
Negotiations take place with one of three goals in mind, says Davis, who also serves as a communications consultant to several corporate entities: to resolve a conflict or disagreement, to exchange or create economic value, making arrangements in the performance of one's job.
Those three factors open the door for several opportunities to negotiate throughout the day. Davis says more than 50 percent of the day includes the potential to negotiate something with someone, so he recommends being prepared to barter at a moment's notice rather than be caught unknowingly in a negotiation.
"You are better off thinking you are negotiating when you are not than not thinking you are negotiating when you are," he said. "If you think you are negotiating, you will prepare for a negotiation. Then if it turns out it's not a negotiating process, fantastic. But if I am not thinking it is a negotiation and the other party thinks it is a negotiation, then I'm sunk, and I've already lost going into the process.
"Be prepared to negotiate. Any time you are in a meeting you are negotiating."
It still doesn't mean that most people are skilled in the practice of negotiating deals. There are several common mistakes people make, Davis says, when striking deals like buying a car or negotiating a salary when seeking a new job.
"People have a tendency to underestimate their own (negotiating) power and give the other side more power than they deserve," Davis said. "If you feel more powerful, you will be more powerful. You will have the belief that you can make something happen."
Davis also says it is important when negotiating deals to include everything on the table in one package rather than to treat them separately.
"Sequential negotiations, or making one argument after the other is about the worst thing you can do," he said. "You can't take something back once it's out there. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube."
Every deal also must include a contingency, or a plan if an equitable deal cannot be reached. Davis calls that the "best alternative to a negotiated agreement" or BATNA.
"How do you end your negotiation? Must have a point where you say 'this is as far as I can go.' And if you say that, you'd better mean it," he said.
"If I change my mind, it affects the ability to trust one another.
"What determines my walkaway point? If I have nothing in my back pocket as a backup, I have no walkaway. BATNA determines your walkaway. If I can't get better than my walkaway point, I'm better instituting my BATNA."