stever - 3:35 pm on Jul 7, 2007 (gmt 0)

>> You can see her point of view, even if you don't agree.

Not at all, unless there was a previous agreement in place about an exclusive contract. The OP is in the business of selling services.

If I want (say) a weather feed from a local supplier, I expect to pay more if I can persuade them to make me the exclusive user of their feed for a certain area. I certainly know what the answer would be if I went to them and complained that they had offered their feed to another local rival when I had just paid the normal price for their services.

The point here is whether a refusal to comply with the current client's wishes is liable to be more damaging than the extra business may be profitable (in a more than financial sense).

But a misplaced sense of loyalty has nothing to do with it.

(Incidentally, I do have a "limiting" agreement as discussed above with several clients, but this was explicitly arranged up front and is reflected in the charges they pay.)