[Jean-Paul]

You can recoup this situation. I have become good friends with most of my clients. Many with whom I will do social stuff outside the gym. One of my clients sits next to me at the symphony (we both have season tickets). Another client and I go watch action/horror movies together (our wives hate movies like that). Another one let's me bring my guitar to her singing gigs and play back-up.

When you're in the gym, have your workout prepared ahead of time, use a stop watch, and keep it moving, even if your discussion shoots all over the place. You can still be their friend and keep the workouts on track. No rule against that.

Give them more than one reason to stick with you. It's one thing to be their friend, but they will LOVE you if you deliver consistent results. Remind yourself each time that your client walks in the door that they are paying a pretty substantial amount for that session, and NEVER EVER give them a throw-away session.