Negotiating Guidelines 117
image of being fair. (I know it’s tough, but you need to be tough.
Be tough on yourself and your opponent.) You may wish to use
synonyms for the word fair. Try: reasonable, decent, square,
evenhanded, principled, above-board, straight, appropriate, all
right, okay, equitable, satisfactory, etc. to reduce the ferocity of
the question.
- Always tell the coach that his/her institution is your
number one choice. Coach, as you know, you are our number-
one choice, but it’s very important to us that all the issues, includ-
ing financial aid, get satisfactorily resolved.
If you must have more aid, or feel you can negotiate for
more, do it with the coach/recruiter. The basis for further nego-
tiation should be the athletic tender. The objective is to increase
the amount of the athletic tender. Coach, I apologize, but after
carefully calculating the total financial aid package offered in the
award letter, I’m going to need a little more help. I need another
$500/$1,000/$2,000. Can you handle that additional amount?
Then be quiet. The first negotiator who talks after a ques-
tion is asked, loses.
Negotiating Is Selling
Because you are now engaged in a contest where only the oppo-
sition knows the rules, the coach and the institution are gener-
ally in a position to put psychological pressure on you. They
recognize (utilizing rules that they know and that you may not
know) that they are in a position of power and control and are
usually quick to take advantage of the psychological stress you
feel. You need a psychological counter-force (using their rules
to compete against them) to level the playing field.
Successful salespeople know what devices to employ when
they want to put the ball into the customer’s court: that is to