Use Relationship Guard™
Some business relationships come with contractual restrictions that affect how and when you can contact or solicit a company directly.
**Relationship Guard™** helps you keep those restrictions connected to the relationship so you don't have to rely on memory.
### Record the restriction where the relationship lives
When a company relationship is subject to a non-solicitation agreement or similar restriction, keep that information with the relevant relationship in The NEST.
This allows the restriction to remain visible alongside the company and transaction history it applies to.
### Track the source of the relationship
Where applicable, record how the relationship originated.
A company you discovered independently may not be subject to the same restriction as a company introduced to you through a signing service, platform, or other contractual relationship.
Keeping the source clear helps preserve the context behind the restriction.
### Use dates when the agreement has a time limit
Some restrictions continue for a defined period after the last applicable assignment or relationship activity.
When the agreement includes a time-based restriction, use Relationship Guard™ to keep the relevant timeline visible.
That is much easier than trying to remember months later which of hundreds of companies came through which source and when the restriction may have ended.
### A warning is not legal advice
Relationship Guard™ helps you organize and surface the information you've recorded.
It does not interpret a contract for you or determine whether a particular solicitation is legally permitted.
If you're unsure what an agreement prohibits, review the contract itself or obtain appropriate legal guidance.
### Keep the relationship history accurate
Relationship Guard™ becomes more useful when the underlying organization and order history are accurate.
When work comes through a restricted source, keep that source connected to the relationship rather than treating every assignment as unrelated.
### The goal is prevention
Relationship Guard™ is designed to help prevent an avoidable business mistake:
**contacting a company directly when you've already agreed not to do so.**
Keeping the restriction in the same system where you manage the relationship gives you a better chance of seeing that information before you act.