I was talking to a former client the other day, and she told me that her sister was getting divorced. I listened carefully and discovered that her sister was being represented by another firm in our area. I clumsily asked her why her sister hadn’t come to us. The former client seemed happy, and I couldn’t imagine why she hadn’t referred her sister.

“Oh,” she said, “I just assumed you were too busy. I figured you were all booked up.” “Why did you think that?” I asked. “Because I keep seeing you on TV and in the paper, and I just thought you would be overwhelmed with clients.”

“Oh my God,” I thought and nearly stroked out. Somehow getting media attention had cost me a client rather than gaining me a client. I considered throwing a chair to break the glass and then diving headfirst out of the window. Then I thought better of it and decided to write this post for you.

I think the best way to let people know we’d still like their referrals is to remind them. In the past, we haven’t done much to remind former clients that we exist. We’ve kind of assumed that they would refer to us if they had been happy with our work. It truly never occurred to me that we could possibly wind up in the situation with the client I just mentioned.

Going forward, we’re going to put all former clients on an e-mail mailing list and start sending them quarterly updates for folks who have been through divorce. We’re including a short article on a pertinent issue (like the need for a prenuptial agreement), and we’ll add some helpful links to resources. Of course, we’ll also mention our availability for referrals, and we’ll thank our former clients again for allowing us to be of service.