A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.
Too many people in sales look at an interaction as a finite, zero sum game where there is a winner and a loser, where either they sell the person or the potential client sells them an excuse not to buy. This is a short-term, flawed, and puerile approach to business.
We need to build sustainable businesses, and the best way to do that is to create a client and long-term relationship instead of focusing on maximizing the revenue on the initial sale. We do this by making sure that we give more value than we get, that we don’t strip mine the situation and destroy the environment for the initial payoff and then disappear as too many shady salespeople do.
Think of it like you need to build a farm that can be harvested over and over again. You do this by making sure you keep and plant seeds, water and nurture the plants, let a field lay fallow as appropriate, give good sunlight and not too much manure.
Infinite games mean you can keep playing them, and the results of previous games influence the current one. If you cut corners with a client or overstated something previously with them, that negatively influences the future and may even end the relationship, thus terminating the game. Or you can give up a little now to make sure they win more, which means they come back and you can play game after game, sell product after product, and produce profit year over year by being fair and reasonable.
The infinite game is ultimately easier and more fun, plus clients will bring new players to the game with you.
