Friendship can be a blessing and a curse.

You have a lot going in your favor when you approach friends andask them to be clients. They feel they will get the level ofattention you give your top clients.

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So far, so good. You can handle that.

However, they might feel the easy going nature of yourfriendship slides seamlessly into business. You must draw the line,sooner, rather than later.

Think about how friendships develop. Put dating relationshipsinto the mix. Balance in the relationship can be very dynamic. Inthe initial stages, you may be putting in lots of energy to winover the other person. This is very common in dating. You are theone making all the calls. Doesn't the other person know the phoneworks both ways?

In a business relationship with a friend, you may be giving themthe “best client treatment” and delivering lots of personalizedservice, even if the relationship isn't that big.

Soon, it evens out. You are calling each other about the samenumber of times. Now you've got them interested in what you can dofor them, businesswise.

Gradually the scales may tilt in your favor. You've given 150%of yourself. It's appreciated. They feel they are gettingspectacular service. They tell their friends. Your friend, once areluctant client, is now a dynamic source of referrals. You'vegained a great client and plenty of qualified leads andintroductions.

So what happens when friends do business with other friends?

1. Unlimited 24/7 access

As friends you are used to calling and texting all the time.Often it's relationship type questions. “He said WHAT to you! Ican't believe it…” Now your friend assumes a sudden purchaserequires an immediate evaluation of an insurance policy. It's 11p.m. on Saturday night. You are both on your fifth tequila shooter.You don't have your laptop or online account access. You are on thespot.

Related: 5 'one liners' for asking friends to do businesswith you

News flash! This might sound scary, but they are worried aboutthe exact same thing. As their advisor, you will ambush them withsales presentations while they are soaking up the sun on the beach.They think you feel friendships mean 24/7 access.

Here's what worked for me: When we got our country place yearsago, we had an entire new circle of friends who were clients. Itold them: “I respect your leisure time. If I want to talk with youabout business, I will call between 9 and 5 on a weekday. I won'tapproach you on the weekend.

Then I added a twist. “You are not held to the same rule. Ifsomething is really important to you, you can bring it up on theweekend. I'm OK with that.” The result was amazing. The responsewas: “No, we respect your free time too. We will hold businessdiscussions until Monday morning too.”

(Photo: Thinkstock)

2. Reporting performance

Lots of insurance clients also own investment products. They seethe market soaring or plunging on TV. (It doesn't rise or fall, itsoars or plunges!) They go into a panic and want an immediatevaluation. If they call you at your office on a weekday, that'spretty easy. It's not on a Sunday on the golf course. You don'tcarry these figures in your head.

Related: Sustaining customer relationships in an evolvinginsurance industry climate

Here are two approaches: The first is to have a regularlyscheduled time to review insurance policies and other finalcialmatters on the calendar. The appointments might be monthly phonecalls or quarterly 1:1's in your office. When they ask at the 9thhole, you might remind them you are scheduled to meet (or talk) in10 days for a scheduled review.

The second example shows how you can be flexible. You mention,“If this is really serious and you want this addressed as quicklyas possible, I can pull together the numbers on Monday morning.”You are letting them know you don't carry all this informationaround in your head. They will likely be happy with the formalreview date 10 days from now or a proper answer on Monday.

3. Respect for the rules

This is a nicer way of saying “Don't break the law.” Friendsthink friends can just look the other way. If something blows upand friend meets friend in court, they will take a totallydifferent point of view.

Your friend and spouse both have IRAs with you. You have an ideafor your friend. They love it. “Buy some for my husband too.” Ifthey don't have a power of attorney, this can come back to hauntyou. How about signing documents? “My wife isn't here, but I signmy wife's name all the time. Just look away.”

Related: 22 ways to make insurance customers feelvalued

This is called forgery. If it ever came up in court, they wouldsay: “I never signed that document. Look, it doesn't even look likemy signature.” Guess who gets caught in the middle.

It's better to anticipate these problems. Ask if either spouseexpects to act on the other's behalf. If so, get powers of attorneyin place. If they want to buy a security for their spouse and don'thave a power of attorney, have them get them on the phone. Peoplecarry their smartphones everywhere. Being honest might sound likean inconvenience, but your clients will respect you for it.

Friends can be great clients. You just need to set some groundrules.

Bryce Sanders ([email protected]) ispresident of Perceptive Business Solutions and has providedtraining for the financial services industry on high net worthclient acquisition since 2001.