the start of a beautiful relationship

There's a salesman friend of mine who says that the client relationship usually starts deteriorating the moment the sale is made. This is not my view but i do think that it's important to avoid going straight into obsequious butler mode just because someone is paying you. In fact, the beginning of the relationship is the best time to test it. An early, hard-hitting, deep-core analysis of a client's business will pay dividends throughout the life of the relationship, instead of the resentment that builds up through having to tease out information.