This post continues our exploration of the RED BEAR Negotiation Principles. These are the core ideas that help organizations build more profitable agreements through value, not price. In this installment, we focus on Principle 3: Managing Information Skillfully and the discipline that turns curiosity into control and conversations into outcomes.
Negotiation Disclosure Strategies: Be Intentional Because Every Word Counts
Great negotiators don’t just know what to say. They know when, how much, and why.
Managing information skillfully is vital for effective negotiation, enabling negotiators to achieve successful outcomes and navigate complex situations.
That’s the essence of Managing Information Skillfully. The best negotiators understand that every question, pause, and disclosure carries weight. Building trust is crucial for achieving better outcomes in negotiations, as it fosters open communication and collaboration.
They treat information not as something to unload but as a tool to be leveraged. It is the core skill that separates reactive negotiators from strategic ones.
Ask More. Say Less. Win More with Negotiation Skills
Research shows that expert negotiators ask two-and-a-half times more questions and do only one-third of the talking. That silence isn’t hesitation; it’s intention.
When you ask first and listen longer, you create productive tension. Practicing active listening helps you engage the other side, build a connection, and turn the negotiation into a productive discussion. Curiosity drives discovery, and discovery drives advantage. Every question becomes a window into what the other side values most, and that’s where opportunity lives.
Oversharing, on the other hand, kills curiosity. It gives away control, shifts power, and often erodes value. Managing information skillfully keeps that balance in your favor.
Information Is the Hidden Lever of Value
Most negotiators see information as proof:
“If I show them everything, they’ll see my value.”
Top performers see it as leverage:
“If I reveal the right things at the right time, I can shape how value is perceived.”
Poor information management is one of the most common negotiation “wrong turns.” Both sellers and buyers often:
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Disclose too much too early.
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Fail to uncover real needs or constraints.
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Trust counterpart information without verification.
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Assume instead of asking.
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Missing opportunities to adapt their strategy.
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Fail to identify their own weaknesses in negotiation.
Each misstep chips away at confidence, control, and credibility. Skilled negotiators take a different path, one built on planning both the giving and the getting of information.
To avoid these pitfalls, it's essential to develop strong negotiating skills and regularly assess your weaknesses to continually improve your negotiation outcomes.
The Three Legs of Information
In RED BEAR workshops, participants visualize information as a three-legged stool, a model for maintaining balance at the table. This approach is especially useful in negotiations involving multiple issues and parties, where understanding and managing various concerns and stakeholders is critical:
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Give – Share what builds trust and credibility.
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Protect – Hold or delay what weakens your position.
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Get – Use thoughtful questions to uncover the other side’s true interests, ensuring you address the underlying needs and priorities of all parties.
Remove one leg, and the stool and your deal collapses. Mastering all three keeps you stable, confident, and credible.
The Discovery Gap: Where Deals Lose Margin
During a RED BEAR simulation, negotiators are asked:
“Do you know who else is bidding and at what price?”
Most don’t. When they later learn that a competitor’s offer was significantly lower, the insight hits hard: what they didn’t know cost them money.
That’s the Discovery Gap, the difference between what negotiators could have known and what they actually knew. Preparing thoroughly before negotiations is essential to avoid costly surprises and ensure you are ready for any scenario.
Closing that gap doesn’t just protect margin; it changes the way teams think. Instead of reacting to information, they start directing it. Being prepared also enables negotiators to respond effectively to unexpected information or challenges that may arise during the negotiation process.
Build Your Information Map
Before your next negotiation, map your information flow using four deliberate steps. Setting clear objectives and expectations at the outset is essential to align both parties and facilitate effective communication:
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Assumptions – What do they believe about your offer, capability, or limits? Who’s really making the decision?
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Questions – What do you need to know to test those assumptions and uncover real motivations?
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Disclosures – What will you share, and when, to build momentum and credibility?
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Redlines – What must you protect? Your non-negotiables: pricing, terms, or limits.
Following these steps helps negotiators gain a clear understanding of the negotiation process, ensuring that objectives and expectations are addressed and that each stage is approached with purpose.
This structure turns instinct into intention, ensuring every word serves your strategy.
Information Control in the Age of Overload
In today’s world, negotiators swim in oceans of AI-generated proposals, digital RFPs, transparent pricing, and instant competitor insights. The challenge isn’t access; it's judgment.
Information overload means everyone has more data but fewer filters for what matters.
That’s why information control is the new competitive edge.
Across industries, from manufacturing to SaaS to energy, RED BEAR clients report that margin protection depends less on product features and more on disciplined disclosure. Knowing when to reveal, when to ask, and when to pause separates good negotiators from great negotiators.
The modern negotiator’s job isn’t to hide information; it’s to sequence it and to turn facts into leverage, not giveaways.
Key Takeaways
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Tension is productive. Withholding the right information keeps curiosity alive and drives creativity, ultimately leading to better outcomes in negotiations.
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Plan before you speak. Every disclosure should serve a purpose, not a habit, ensuring your approach supports better outcomes for all parties.
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Ask more, talk less. Questions uncover value more quickly than presentations ever can, helping negotiators achieve better outcomes by focusing on mutual interests.
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Protect your leverage. Share strategically and never to relieve discomfort, as this approach safeguards your position and contributes to better outcomes.
Final Thought
Information isn’t just what you have; it’s how you use it. Handled instinctively, it leaks value. Handled intentionally, it becomes leverage.
That’s the power of RED BEAR, helping teams transform every conversation into a more strategic, profitable agreement built on curiosity, control, and trust.
Be intentional. Manage information skillfully, and you’ll manage outcomes.
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