As a business professional, how do you deal with people who are constantly asking for coffee dates or free consultation as a 'favor'?

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I’ve been in this position before and my philosophy is to always be willing to meet someone and talk about whatever is concerning them so long as it’s a) on my schedule, b) on their dime, and c) not involving actual work.

So when I schedule the meeting it’s always at the coffee shop which I’m always at anyway, so they can be seen by me as just somebody else I can meet there along with regulars and such. Evening meets are scheduled at my favorite bar, drinks on them.

My reasoning is, if their problem is something that can be solved with a little conversation, then it’s not meaty enough for me to get interested in. But the second they have me do anything more than a cursory glance at a website or paper or whatever, really the second it stops feeling like a fun, interesting conversation and starts feeling like work, I’ll stop them and say something like, “well, this is starting to look like work, my rate is $125 / hour, would you like to schedule a session?”

That way they know where the boundary lies and that I’m not afraid to assert it.

I take the same approach with girls who I sense are likely to flake out on me. (read: all of them) I don’t give them the ability to mess with my zen by always meeting in a known place where if they flake, I’m not completely out an evening or afternoon or whatever.