Article 4 in The 7 Client Personality Types series
This article is part of a series on The 7 Client Personality Types: an Ethical Sales framework to help you transform every sales conversation with potential clients into a clear, kind, and meaningful connection.
This article highlights the third Client Personality Type: The Vampire.
Every service-based professional eventually meets one: the inquisitive, knowledge-seeking Vampire Client Personality Type. And while they don’t come with fangs, they do test your energetic boundaries.
Vampires have a knack for drawing out valuable information, seeking discounts, and exploring what they can get for free. They have an exceptional talent for extracting resources before disappearing into the night, never to be seen again if you don’t guide them consciously in the sales conversation.
Imagine you’re a spiritual guide and astrology expert. You meet many people through your work who absolutely adore the insights you provide. Then, you connect with a Vampire client named Sam.
They’re interested in astrology and ask you a barrage of questions, wanting to learn more and extract as much information as possible. They say, “Oh, that’s interesting… Tell me more. And what else? Can you hook me up? Can I pick your brain about…”
What’s Great About Guiding The Vampire (The High Side):
To many people’s surprise, Vampires have the potential to become excellent clients due to their strong desire to learn and gather information! They are hungry for transformation and, with the correct guidance, can learn how to meet their needs appropriately while applying the wealth of information they gather.
By effectively guiding Sam, you can transform their focus from seeking discounts and freebies to recognizing the value of your services. Once they truly understand the value of investing in your service, there’s a great opportunity for Sam to become a genuinely ideal client.
What’s Challenging About Guiding The Vampire (The Low Side):
Vampires will ask you a ton of questions that have you talking for most of the conversation. Before you know it, you share the knowledge, expertise, how-to skills, information from people you work with, and other details you’ve worked so hard to acquire. This is the brilliance of Vampires.
When your conversation with Sam ends, you might feel as if they literally drained you of your resources, leaving you with little clarity or commitment after providing them with your most valuable information.
Moving From Low to High (Uncovering The Sincere Lead Within):
The key to uncovering the Sincere Lead within a Vampire is to set strong boundaries on what information you’re willing to share and what information you reserve for paying clients.
There’s a beautiful balance between providing value and giving everything away. You want to serve Vampires authentically and communicate the value of your offerings while upholding these boundaries. To practice this, consider the following suggestions:
- Name what you see: One of the most effective ways to guide a Vampire is to point out that they’re in a Vampire state directly. With kindness, you can say, “Wow! It seems like you really want to know a lot of information and details, which is awesome. Let me ask you, what do you plan to do with all this information?” This will help them see how much they’ve received and clarify their next action step.
- Illustrate the value of working together: This is a beautiful way to set boundaries lovingly. As Sam asks more and more questions, you can tell them, “Well, if we decide to work together, you’ll have access to all the answers and guidance you’re currently looking for.” Again, this moves the Vampire from ideation to committed action.
- Ask which account you’re filling: We all love to share our expertise and the feeling of helping others, and when we do so without compensation, we’re still filling an account. We call it the ego account. And Vampires love to help us fill it. The issue is while we’re in sales conversations to provide service, we’re also there to create an income for ourselves. When conversing with a Vampire, ask yourself, “Am I filling my bank account or just my ego account?”
Your job isn’t to judge the Vampire in a sales conversation — it’s to discern when to give, when to guide, and when to gracefully set the boundary.
When you learn to honor your boundaries and fill your bank account rather than your ego account, you’re actually providing a much greater service to the Vampire in Sam. When a Vampire is willing to invest rather than extract, their capacity for transformation increases exponentially.
An important reminder: Every potential client holds all 7 Client Personality Types within them (and so do we!). What you first encounter may shift into another as the conversation unfolds — and that’s part of the beauty. Stay curious, ask thoughtful questions, and let each type reveal itself in time as you guide the conversation. Whether they evolve into a Sincere Lead or not, your goal is always the same: co-create clarity with care and consent.
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
