My friend Marion returns from a trip to the States full of interesting observations - She has an eye for spotting the new and interesting.

On the customer front, she spotted an article about “Toronto’s trendiest changing room”, which is in a yoga-wear shop. A sale’s assistant writes the shopper’s name on a wipe-board on their changing room - “my own personalised compartment”, wrote the journalist.

Clever and simple. What do you do to make your space the customer's space?

At St. Lukes, the radical advertising agency in London, major clients have their own themed room, which they can work from as if it's their own office, whenever they are in the area. So, meetings with executives from Clarks, the shoemakers, take place in the Clarks room. In typical St. Luke's style, the Clarks room is themed around shoes - even the coffee table wears shoes; the legs on the table have feet on the end, which sport Clarks footwear.

How at home do St. Luke's clients feel, do you think? 'Put yourself in your customers' shoes?' At St. Luke's they even put their furniture in their customers' shoes.