Have you ever gotten to know someone who later turned out to be a friend, client and vendor?
It’s happened to me several times and I truly feel blessed by these relationships.
While there’s no hard and fast rules, for me the friendship usually comes first, then as we learn more about each other, one often realizes she needs the services of the other and a client relationship is born. And after learning even more about each other, often times the client relationship is reciprocated.
And it’s in the best interests of both of our businesses (this is key). . .
Of my current private clients, I can immediately think of 3 where these lines are all crossed.
And it works for one simple reason — respect:
• we respect each other and the brilliance we each bring,
• we respect the lines and
• through that respect, we know which “role” we’re in during any given conversation.