Richard Harris is a multi-award-winning sales leadership expert and trainer who has fundamentally reshaped how modern companies approach Sales conversations and customer engagement. As the founder of The Harris Consulting Group, he has earned recognition as a 4-time Salesforce Sales Leader and 5-time AAiSP Top Sales Leader for his innovative “Earn The Right” methodology, which transforms how sales teams navigate customer relationships and drive revenue.  

Harris’s client portfolio spans Fortune 500 enterprises like General Electric, Visa, and Salesforce to high-growth startups such as Dusty Robotics and Lattice.  

Beyond his consulting work, Harris is the co-founder of “Surf and Sales” and has established himself as a prominent voice in the sales community through his widely followed podcast of the same name, which has aired over 400 episodes. His thought leadership and expertise have made him a sought-after guest speaker on numerous business and sales podcasts.  

A passionate advocate for mental health awareness in sales, Harris balances his professional achievements with his role as a husband and father of two sons. His approach to sales leadership emphasizes both high performance and human-centric values, making him one of the most respected voices in modern sales transformation. 

• In this episode, Richard Harris talks about his book, “The Seller’s Journey: Your Guidebook to Closing More Deals with N.E.A.T. Selling”. He begins by discussing his writing process, his motivations and how the project started. He started writing a very different book, which ultimately turned out to be the present volume. He intended to write something that would help salespeople elevate their game and improve the selling process and outcome, rather than a New York Times bestseller. He also admits very candidly that the book was meant to be a validation and a calling card for someone who had been in the sales consulting space for many years. 
• The book has two key aspects. One is the psychological part, which is about understanding the motivations behind buying, being human, being graceful, providing space and so on. The other key aspect is the tactical part, which is about “here is how you handle these conversations”. Initially, the first drafts were more on the tactical front, but the structure evolved to its current form over time. 
• Richard enumerates crucial ideas, such as economic impact and access to authority, that define his thinking on the sales process. Amongst several paradigms offered by Richard, one concept is that salespersons have to earn the right to ask the right questions for discovery. And he offers a process through which salespeople can reach that rapport with the potential customer, whereby he can ask the right questions. This involves exchanging ideas, rather than trying to push a sale. If the customer decides that they like the idea, further conversations can happen. In other words, it is always about exchanging ideas rather than selling a product or service.   

Run time – 01:02:28 mins.