One of the things about having your picture in the paper from time to time is that you run into people who want to share their stories.

Last Saturday night, I was invited to a casual open house and got to talking with one of the other guests by the name of Susan, a lawyer in her mid fifties who proceeded to tell me about her financial advisor.

She'd only been working with this advisor for about 18 months and despite choppy markets is very happy. "She really listens" was her first comment - "she remembers all of our previous conversations and we chat about our kids and everything going on in our lives."

This woman went on to say "The other thing that impresses me is how much she cares about her clients. I never feel rushed like I did with my last advisor. And when I signed the paperwork to transfer my account, this advisor took out her business card and said to me - I'm going to write my home phone number on my card. As a general rule, I talk to clients at the office during business hours but if there's ever a really pressing question or concern, please don't hesitate to call me at home. That one thing showed me that she truly did care and confirmed that I'd made the right decision".

I was curious enough to call the advisor in question the next day.

"Susan was right, I genuinely do care about my clients" she said. "The problem I've had is making clients understand that for me it's not just about the money, it really is about making a difference in my clients' lives. One way that I do that is by letting them know that I'm not just there for them 9 to 5, I'm there all the time. I read about this idea years back as a way to let your clients know you really care - but at the time I had young children and was concerned about calls in the evening waking my kids up, so gave clients the number for a separate line I had installed in my home office with an answering machine on it. Six months later, I had yet to get my first call and took the phone out. I find that I might get one or two calls a year at home, almost always on things that I am glad clients have called me about - and whenever clients do call they are incredibly apologetic about bothering me at home".

She went on to say: "I spend an incredible amount of time ensuring we have financial plans in place, fine tuning portfolios and calling clients to talk about what's happening. What I've learned is that those aren't the things they seem to remember and talk about - it's the fact that I give them my number at home or remember how they like their tea when we meet. "

As it turns out, giving clients your home phone number is one of those high payoff activities that sends the right signal and can have a positive impact at little cost to advisors. The bottom line: To succeed in this business, you have to get all the big things right - but sometimes it's the little things clients notice and that give you the payoff on doing the big things. As you reflect on your business, consider whether you're doing not just the big things but also the little things to let clients know you care.