Harris Consulting Group

Richard Harris spent over 20 years in sales before launching his consulting practice in 2013. He held roles from SDR to VP of Sales, giving him deep experience across the full sales spectrum. What inspired him to start consulting wasn't a specific product idea, but rather the realization that his expertise in building and coaching sales teams could be offered as a service to growing companies.

Harris's first client came through serendipity—he met Nick Madina from Gainesight on an airplane flight back from Austin in 2013. The two struck up such an engaging conversation that they were "shushed by the flight attendant twice." Nick hired Richard for a 30-day retainer engagement to build out Gainesight's sales process and train the team. At the time, Gainesight had just 15 employees and only 1-2 sales reps. Richard was paid "healthy five figures" for that initial engagement and became instrumental in helping Nick and his first reps close deals in that critical early period.

Richard's model evolved significantly over the years, particularly after COVID. What started as day-long training sessions followed by 1-2 coaching calls shifted to a structured five-week program. The new model includes two hours per day, four days in a row (Monday-Thursday) for the first week to enable micro-learning and retention, followed by four weeks of once-weekly meetings with both managers and sales teams. Rather than charging by the hour or by headcount, Richard charges a flat rate of around $18,000 per engagement regardless of team size—whether it's 10 or 20 people. Today he typically takes on 2-3 new clients per month and maintains capacity for about 5 clients at any given time, though he deliberately caps his workload to maintain work-life balance.

With five concurrent coaching clients paying approximately $2,000 per month each, Harris Consulting Group generates roughly $10,000 in monthly revenue ($120,000 ARR). Richard has intentionally built what he calls "a really nice, healthy business that's more than a lifestyle business," rejecting the pressure to scale aggressively. At 52, married with two kids, he prioritizes being home every day for his family. His client roster includes high-profile SaaS companies like Gainesight, Google Cloud, Salesloft, Achievers, JFrog, and Force Therapeutics. He's currently working on writing a book about the NEAT Selling Methodology, using a structured "Book in a Box" service to maintain accountability around the project.