One of the best Henny Youngman one-liners goes something like this: “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.”

If you sell, you go to those places every day. We know sellers who have worked on deals worth tens, even hundreds, of millions of dollars, for multiple years—and lost. More than a few of them might have preferred the broken leg than coming in second place. Even when sales are much smaller, it’s no fun to lose.

However, if you don’t go to those places and risk the broken leg, you miss the chance to feel the rush of winning a sale and making customers’ lives better because they made the right decision and bought from you. There’s no question, however, that you win some and you lose some.

The idea, though, is to win as many as you can and win as big as you can. At the same time, although you can never avoid them all, you should direct your energies away from those places that might as well have a sign over the door that reads, “Today’s special: broken legs.”

Just a few weeks ago, we were speaking with the leader of a multibillion-dollar global consulting firm. His top-performing strategic account managers were selling triple what the average strategic account managers sold and growing their accounts at a much faster pace. We asked him, “In your observation, what do you think sets apart the top performers from the rest?”

After a long pause, he said, “They make the magic happen.”

He’s right. They do. It would be fabulous if we could take a set of sellers—be they full-time salespeople or leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs who also sell—and just tell them, presto change-o, “Go make the magic happen,” and have that be enough. We haven’t yet figured that one out. Fortunately, behind every amazing magic trick is a detailed and meticulously planned set of actions a skilled magician executes in just the right time and sequence to make it happen. We’ve made it our mission to figure out and break down what’s really going on to make the sales magic happen and to teach sellers how to do it in a deliberate way through education, coaching, and practice.

If you want to sell at your maximum potential—if you want to make the magic happen—don’t listen to Henny’s doctor. Listen to Bilbo instead: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

For those who take the lessons presented throughout these pages to heart, and are willing to do the hard work of becoming an insight seller, our research and our experience tell us the place you’re most likely to be swept off to—is the winner’s circle.

Like sales, to write a book, you have to make the magic happen. We certainly didn’t make it alone. First, thanks to Mary Flaherty because without her passion and perseverance on the research behind Insight Selling and the book itself, neither would have ever come alive. With much appreciation, we’d like to acknowledge our colleagues at RAIN Group: Kaitlyn Bissonette, Jon Carlson, Bob Croston, Michelle Davidson, Steve Elefson, Ted Hill, Cynthia Ironson, Beth McCluskey, Deniz Olcay, and Erica Stritch. Not only does their dedication allow us to take the time needed to write, but they also supported the heavy lifting required to conceptualize, research, and produce a book of this nature. Thanks to Ago Cluytens in Geneva and Jason Murray and Andy Springer in Sydney, for their work every day helping clients win with RAIN Group’s intellectual capital and training.

The primary research on which Insight Selling is based includes study and analysis of more than 700 corporate purchases and more than 150 conversations with buyers regarding their buying experiences. A number of these buyers, many of whom are or have been C-level executives at multibillion-dollar corporations, agreed to allow us to quote them directly about their experiences in making major corporate purchases. Thank you to Gerry Cuddy (president and chief executive officer, Beneficial Bank), Jack Kline (president and chief operating officer, Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc.), David Lissy (chief executive officer, Bright Horizons Family Solutions), Jeff Park (executive vice president and chief financial officer, Catamaran), Steve Satterwhite (founder, Entelligence), Leonard Schlesinger (Baker Foundation professor of business administration, Harvard Business School, and former chief operating officer, Limited Brands), Jeff Somers (principal, Rothstein Kass), Dr. Wayne Tworetzky (director, Fetal Cardiology Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, and associate professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School), and Sandy Wells (executive vice president, Employer Services, Bright Horizons Family Solutions). Thanks also to Professor Neil Rackham for a lifetime of insight in the world of selling and for writing the foreword to the book.

To our valued clients, thank you for the privilege of working with you and accepting us as members of your teams. Finally, we are both grateful for the love and constant support of our families. You make it all worthwhile. (Most of the time.)