Article 1 in The 7 Client Personality Types series
Navigating sales conversations are fun when we recognize there are a handful of archetypes, or personalities, we meet over and over in our potential clients. We call them The 7 Client Personality Types: The Dreamer, The Lookie Loo, The Vampire, The Salesperson, The Skeptic, The Intuitive Lead and The Sincere Leads. Welcome to the series that unpacks them all!
Sales gets a bad rap — and historically for good reason. Too often, traditional sales are filled with pressure tactics, false scarcity, and pushing people into saying yes.
That’s why at the Ethical Sales Institute, we teach a radically different way: one that’s based on deep listening, safety, and honoring someone’s choice whether they say “yes” or “no” to our offers.
Unlike traditional sales, which pursue a “yes” at all costs, Ethical Sales teachings and philosophies are about creating the clarity needed to determine whether you and your potential client would be an ideal fit moving forward. Only once you co-create that clarity do you confidently ask for the sale, knowing they will respond with a “clear yes,” or an equally “clear no.”
One of our approaches to deep listening and honoring choice is The 7 Client Personality Types: a set of archetypes you’ll encounter again and again in sales conversations (and probably already have). Recognizing these types helps you move from defense or nervousness to curiosity, presence, and aligned clarity – knowing if you can truly serve this potential client, and if they want to accept your offer.
Knowing how to recognize and navigate The 7 Client Personality Types also makes sales conversations more fun!
Here they are:
- The Dreamer – vision-led and inspired, and struggles with follow-through
- The Lookie Loo – curious and info-gathering, not yet ready to buy
- The Vampire – hungry for knowledge, and often drains your energy and time
- The Salesperson – eager to pitch, yet can resist receiving support
- The Skeptic – leads with doubt, needs proof and trust-building
- The Intuitive Lead – follows their gut and moves on resonance
- The Sincere Lead – ready, resourced, and a genuine fit
And here’s what makes these 7 Personality Types so powerful: each potential client you speak with contains all 7 types, and multiple can pop up in a single sales conversation.
Think of them like Russian nesting dolls: what you see on the surface might not be who they are at the core. And it’s your job to gently uncover whether they are (or could become) a Sincere Lead, and ultimately, an Ideal Client. In this series, you’ll explore how to do that with each one.
Because the goal of every Ethical Sales conversation isn’t to convince someone to say yes — it’s to come to a clear “yes” or “no” together, building trust and relationships and care along the path.
To do this uncovering, we tune into signs of movement during the conversation:
- Are they shifting from the Low Side of their current Personality Type (resistance, confusion, over-efforting)…
- …toward the High Side (clarity, grounded action, aligned desire)?
This movement from Low to High is key to discovering if this potential client is a Sincere Lead, and ultimately an Ideal Client for your business.
We create this movement through guiding the sales conversation with safety and relationship-building:
- Asking permission to explore deeper
- Offering small invitations to test their resilience
- Listening for how they respond under pressure or challenge
And when it’s clear you’re in front of a Sincere Lead? That’s when it’s time to ask for the sale as the natural, joyful next step for the both of you.
This series walks you through each of the 7 types — one by one — so you can spot them with ease, engage them with care, and know what to do next.
Explore other articles in the 7 Client Personality Types series:
- The Secret to Making Sales Conversations Fun and Effective
- How to Ground the Dreamer Client and Make the Sale
- Turning Window-Shoppers Into Referral Sources
- The Vampire Client: How to Give Without Getting Drained
- Why Some of the Best Clients Are Also Salespeople
- Build Trust, Not Pressure: The Secret to Selling to Skeptics
- Turn Intuitive Clients Into Reliable, Aligned Buyers
- The Nesting Doll Secret to Spotting Dream Clients
Marla Mattenson
With a 25+ year career, Mattenson is a trailblazer in transforming sales paradigms from transactional to relational for professionals who prioritize the integrity & fulfillment of their services. She is a champion of consent-based sales.
www.instagram.com/marla.mattenson
