02 Sep WOULD YOU RATHER WIN, THAN NOT LOSE?
The sign at my local Mission Barbecue restaurant reads, “If you knew you couldn’t play tomorrow, how hard would you play today?” This statement suggests the importance of effort and commitment in the present moment. Also, that one should always give your best effort to try to win in competition.
Those who know me well know my passion for sports. I watch closely not only for the competition but also for the decisions under pressure—the moments that separate winners from those who simply avoid losing. I often find analogies between sports, business, and life.
Take this scenario: your American football team trails 14–13 against its fiercest rival. (For example, Chicago Bears versus Green Bay Packers, Michigan versus Ohio State, or Auburn versus Alabama.) Five seconds remain in the game. Your team is on the offense, and it just scored a touchdown. If you are the coach, do you attempt the safe extra point to tie the game, or risk a two-point conversion to win outright? There is no overtime. The decision is simple: protect the status quo or pursue indisputable victory. What do you do?
We saw this dilemma happen many years ago, in 1966, when undefeated No. 1 Notre Dame played undefeated No. 2 Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan. “The two teams were so talented and physically imposing, and had beaten their opponents so easily, that it was impossible to foretell how the game would go.”1 Some called it the “Game of the Century.”
The game was tied 10-10 with less than two minutes left in the game. With timeouts in hand and the ball deep in their own territory, Notre Dame’s coach, Ara Parseghian, chose to run out the clock rather than attempt a winning drive. The game ended in a tie. Though Notre Dame claimed the national college championship title from the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), and the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), many—including myself—saw it as a missed opportunity, a choice to preserve position rather than seize greatness.
Seeking a tie contrasts with a strategy focused solely on achieving a win and is antithetical to my personal beliefs.2 Coach Parseghian’s decision to play for a tie, rather than a win, or risk a turnover, led to the national championship, which he probably anticipated, although some may argue that Alabama, which remained undefeated and defeated Nebraska (9-1) in the Sugar Bowl, also had a strong case for the title.
In sales, I believe the same principle applies: you cannot win a decision by playing for a tie. A tie in business is not a neutral outcome—it’s a no-decision. And a no-decision by the buyer is the toughest competitor in B2B sales.
That doesn’t mean we gamble. Winning a buyer’s decision in sales is not about taking reckless shortcuts like offering unsustainable discounts or forcing an artificial close. Those tactics erode trust and often backfire. Instead, real sales success comes from discipline and process. For example, excelling at the following:
- Proper qualification of the opportunity
- Conducting discovery thoroughly.
- Validating buyer interest at each step.
- Securing access to decision-makers
- Ensuring the buyer’s help define the value of the solution.
- Building trust so that the close happens naturally.
This is how you win—by executing with consistency, by engaging buyers with credibility, and by refusing to settle for a “no decision.”
The lesson is clear: in sports, business, and life, there’s no victory in settling for a tie. Winners commit. Winners execute. Winners play to win.
What would you do?
1 https://vault.si.com/vault/1966/11/28/an-upsidedown-game
2 I am a Myers-Briggs ESTP personality type.