Quick note before we dive in:
I'm hosting a bunch of free online workshops over the next few weeks.
Management, sales, tax, goal setting, incentive compensation, health and more.
If you register, I'll send you a copy of the recording even if you can't attend live.
Invest in your education!
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This is the most valuable skill in the world:
If you have followed my content for any length of time, you know what I'm about to say.
The #1 skill in life is SALES.
Whether you like it or not, every single interaction with another human that could possibly move your life forward is a sales interaction.
Want to convince an attractive person to date you? That's sales.
Want to talk a great employee into leaving their job and working for you instead? You better be able to sell them on why they should join.
Want to get a partner/co-founder to start a business with you or want to convince a customer to buy from you? It's all sales.
Want people to follow you on social media? You are selling yourself and your ideas.
Literally everything in life that could potentially move you forward as a person is a sales environment.
EVERYBODY needs to embrace this as a necessary part of life and take it seriously.
Here is the truth:
Every single person in this world is selfish most of the time.
They are thinking about themselves and how they can make their own life better. Every interaction needs to be a win-win interaction in order for it to make sense.
Your wife is married to you because she is counting on you to make her life better.
Your friends are friends with you because they enjoy your company or you make them better.
Your boss is paying you $60k a year because you’re adding $100k of value and he’s making $40k of profit off of you.
Your customers are paying you money because they value what you have more than they value their money.
The sooner you understand that this is the way the world works, the better off you will be.
So everyday, you are selling yourself and the value you can bring to the table in every interaction you enter.
So the million dollar question is, how do you get better at it?
You practice. Here are 5 tactics I like:
- Consistency:
It comes down to making the ask and picking up the phone over and over again and not being afraid of rejection because you’ll get a lot of it.
I’ve been hung up on more times than I can count when cold calling self-storage facilities to source deals. I’ve been laughed at on calls with potential investors. I’ve had folks tell me we’ll never make money and that we should find something else to do.
What you need to realize is that your circle will only overlap with a small group of other people.
Not every rich person is the right investor for you. Not every property owner is the right person to sell to you. Not every tenant is the right tenant to lease from you. Not every banker is the right banker to lend to you.
You get my point.
Your job is to cast a wide enough net to find the right people who are meant to work with you, sell to you, or invest in you.
And that takes consistency.
You have to pick up the phone again and again to find properties to buy. You have to go from dinner table to dinner table — or Zoom call to Zoom call — or cold email to cold email to find partners for your deal.
You have to wake up every day, embrace the discomfort of rejection, and make it happen.
Consistency wins. It’s a numbers game.
2. Ignore the old-school sales approach
Forget the outdated sales tricks about overcoming objections or pressure tactics designed to close everyone.
Not everyone is a buyer.
Don’t get pushy. Don’t try to do business with anyone and everyone. Don’t accept assholes as partners. Don’t approach people from a place of desperation.
I have a unique way of selling. It’s not about pressure. It’s not about sliding a pen across the table and asking someone to sign. It's about providing value and making sure it's a win-win.
3. Prove That You Are an Expert
Business is about leverage. If you have it, you win. If you don’t, you lose.
So how do you get leverage?
You prove that you’re an asset, not a commodity.
Commodities are replaceable. Assets are rare, valuable, and command a premium.
I spend the first few minutes of a sales conversation proving I know what I’m doing. But not by bragging about my resume.
I speak their language.
If I’m talking to a self-storage owner, I mention that I own 60+ facilities and talk shop about operations, management software, and occupancy issues.
If I’m talking to an investor, I focus on risk. I talk about how I’m thinking about the macro environment and what keeps me up at night about the deal.
This shows I’m different. I’m thoughtful. I’m credible. I’m an asset.
4. Make Scarcity Work for You
Once I’ve established expertise and built leverage, I start creating scarcity.
Instead of pulling people in and pitching them hard, I push them away.
I explain why it might not be a good fit. I talk about the types of investors our deals aren’t built for. I talk about the kinds of properties we don’t want to buy.
Scarcity changes the dynamic.
It signals that I don’t work with just anyone I only work with a specific kind of person.
5. Let the Other Party Sell Themselves
Here’s my favorite move:
I ask an open-ended question like:
“What makes you think our circles might overlap here?”
If I’m speaking to a potential investor, I’ll say:
“Given the risks, what do you like about this investment?”
Here’s the key: I haven’t pitched the deal yet. I haven’t tried to sell anything.
All I’ve done is prove I’m credible, talked about the risks, and positioned myself as selective.
And something amazing happens — they start selling themselves on the deal.
They begin to answer their own objections. They become the optimist while I’m playing the cautious pessimist.
Now we’re having a real conversation.
We discuss assumptions. We break down upside and downside. We talk through what could go wrong and how we’d handle it.
They get the sense that I’m thoughtful, conservative, and serious about protecting capital. And that’s because it’s true. And that’s what ultimately builds trust.
And the rest is history.
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A few other notes I think are important:
Show genuine interest in other people.
If people feel understood, they will naturally feel like you have their interests in mind and can help move them forward.
Add value first:
I think you should walk into every single interaction with the goal of adding as much value as humanly possible.
Don’t think about charging money, withholding info, etc at the start.
Prove you know your stuff. Help in a massive way. Gain trust. Profit later.
Most people think that If I give away what I know I’ll lose something and they’ll gain.
Or if someone else makes money I must be losing money.
The sooner you realize it’s a plentiful world, everyone can make money and you should share everything, your world opens up.
If you make money it’s not because you took it from someone else, it’s because you added value in excess of said amount of $.
A NET GAIN happened.
I have a good friend in tax, biz, wealth management consulting.
He brings in potential clients and spends an hour with them adding as much value as humanly possible without a contract.
One day I asked why he doesn’t charge and if he gets taken advantage of…
He said Nick most folks walk out of this room and sign up with me on the spot.
Many others call me back and sign on 6 months later when they need advice on something else.
I don’t worry about the money on day one. I show them I can help and the money takes care of itself.
People are selfish. If you flip that script, your world opens up.
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The following workshops are coming up, click the links to register:
- June 17th at 11am EST - Real Estate Private Equity & Management Structure
- June 17th at 2pm EST - Golden Handcuffs & How to Make Sure Your Top People Never Leave
- June 24th at 2pm EST - How to Pay Less Tax
- July 1st at 2pm EST - Building Worldwide Teams
- July 16th at noon EST - CEO Bootcamp
- July 16th at 2pm EST - How to Build a Personal Brand
- July 22nd at 2pm EST - Business Idea Generation
- August 12th at 2pm EST - How to Live Longer
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A few posts to check out:
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Beth Azor, “Canvassing Queen”
@Bethazor1
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6:55 AM • Jun 8, 2025
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Onward and upward,
Nick Huber
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