It’s because of a survey in the press last week, which lists the 50 top ways to show a loved one that you care: spontaneous hugs, watching their favourite TV programme even though you hate it, giving them your last chocolate.

For a giggle, my parents are trying to do six from the list every day; Mum is really struggling on the chocolate one.

I was instinctively dismissive of the list. Can a caring-by-numbers approach really demonstrate your love? If you asked Travel Counsellors, the answer would be a resounding yes. This travel company, more than any other, encourages its agents to take a strategic approach to “showing they care”.

At its annual conference last weekend I heard reference both to the “Five Rules of Creating Relationships” and the “Ten Golden Habits” of customer care (there used to be 24). Travel Counsellors is rather secretive about its Golden Habits, and I catch only a fleeting glimpse of the list on the giant screen before it’s gone.

You can understand their protectiveness, since customer service has been critical to its agents’ success – with star-performers earning as much as £300,000 in annual commission. But I can well imagine the kind of things the Golden Habits list will contain: keeping in regular contact with your clients, sending handwritten thank-you notes, surprising them with welcome gifts.

They’re the kind of touches good agents undertake whenever they can, but also the things that can easily fall by the wayside. Individual Travel Counsellors admit that when their sales are down, it’s almost always because of a lack of communicating with their client base.

If it’s the systematic, consistent approach that sets Travel Counsellors apart, perhaps other agents would be wise to come up with their own list of “ways to show you care”: regular personal actions to demonstrate you’re thinking about your clients and remind them you’re there.

I wouldn’t blame you for refusing to relinquish your last chocolate to them though; you’re only human.