Sometimes the best ideas don’t come from whiteboards, boardrooms, or brainstorming sessions. They happen in the most unexpected places — like over a cup of coffee at a convention center.

That’s exactly what happened to me on a last-minute trip to Las Vegas. I was at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, bleary-eyed and waiting for a caffeine kick, when a woman struck up a casual conversation at the coffee station. She worked for a national tile retailer, and within minutes of small talk, she dropped a question that completely shifted the energy of the conversation:

“How would you redesign our showrooms?”

Without missing a beat, I said: “I wouldn’t.”

She looked surprised — maybe even a little confused. Here she was, representing a company in the middle of a nationwide remodel project. They wanted to design a flagship showroom that could serve as the model for all their locations across the country. They’d already brought in retail designers with plenty of experience designing tile showrooms, but they were hoping for a spark of fresh thinking.

And here I was, flat out refusing to play the game.


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Why “I Wouldn’t”

Now, I didn’t say “I wouldn’t” to be clever or contrarian. I said it because too many businesses make the mistake of answering the wrong question.

If you ask the wrong question, you’ll always get the wrong answer.

So instead of giving her design advice, I asked my own questions.

“Who is your client?”

She answered quickly: “Contractors and interior designers.”

Then I followed up: “How often do contractors and designers actually come into your showrooms each year?”

Her answer was telling: “Maybe a handful of times.”

That was the real issue. They were pouring millions of dollars into marketing and remodeling, keeping giant retail spaces staffed and ready, all for a client who might stop by once or twice a year. The company was trying to solve the wrong problem.

So I pressed further: “What do contractors and designers actually need?”


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Seeing the Customer Differently

Here’s the truth: contractors and designers don’t live in showrooms. They don’t need to walk aisles of tile every day. They need something much more practical: a place to work, meet clients, and collaborate.

Most designers and contractors work from home, and when it comes time to meet a client, their options are limited. They end up at Starbucks, or in a showroom that was never designed for conversation.

But what if it was?


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From Showroom to Community Hub

That’s when I told her my answer:

“I wouldn’t design a showroom. I’d design a co-working space for contractors and designers.”

Here’s what I envisioned:

Vignettes that function like living showrooms. Imagine an IKEA-style setup, where every conference room and lounge area is built with the company’s tile. Instead of sterile walls and sample boards, the product is woven seamlessly into real-world applications.

Bookable meeting rooms. Designers could invite clients to meet in professional, beautifully designed spaces. Contractors could hold project consultations. Every single meeting would take place surrounded by the tile brand’s product.

Daily co-working access. Instead of visiting once or twice a year, customers could use the space weekly, or even daily. Suddenly, the tile brand becomes part of their everyday business routine.

Content creation spaces. With social media driving so much of today’s marketing, imagine offering a small studio or content room where designers and contractors could record videos, take product shots, and grow their own brands — all while promoting yours in the background.

Community events and talks. The space could host workshops, training sessions, and networking events — positioning the brand not just as a retailer, but as a community hub.


This wasn’t about selling tile. It was about embedding the brand into the daily lives of the very people they were trying to reach.


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Why This Works: The Power of Customer-Centric Marketing

What I was really describing wasn’t showroom design at all. It was Customer-Centric Marketing in action.

Instead of asking, “How do we get people into our showroom?”, I reframed the question as:
“How do we become an indispensable part of our customer’s life?”

That’s the essence of Customer-Centric Marketing. It’s not about pushing your product harder. It’s about discovering what your customers truly need, then aligning your brand with those needs in a way that feels natural, authentic, and valuable.

Tile is just the medium. The real opportunity is creating a platform where customers see your brand as a partner in their work, not just a place to purchase materials.

And here’s the best part: when you create that kind of environment, the marketing takes care of itself. Designers will post about their meetings. Contractors will tag the brand on Instagram. Clients will remember the experience of walking through beautifully tiled vignettes. Word-of-mouth spreads, not because of a campaign, but because the brand became part of people’s stories.

That’s the same dynamic that made social media platforms trillion-dollar companies. They didn’t sell ads first. They gave people a platform to promote themselves, and in doing so, people ended up promoting the platform.


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The Takeaway for Any Business

This story isn’t really about tile. It’s about mindset.

Too many businesses stay trapped in the box of their own industry, looking only at what competitors are doing and trying to “out-display” or “out-shout” them. But real innovation doesn’t come from copying the guy across the street. It comes from asking better questions, listening differently, and borrowing proven models from other industries.

In this case, it wasn’t about building a better tile showroom. It was about recognizing that Starbucks had already trained contractors and designers to meet in coffee shops — and then reimagining how that same need could be met in a way that brought the brand to life.

Every business has this opportunity. The question is: are you willing to stop thinking like a seller, and start thinking like a partner?


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Closing Thought

If you run a business, the challenge isn’t just staying “top of mind” with your customers. It’s finding ways to be woven into their daily lives.

That’s what Customer-Centric Marketing is all about:

Shifting the spotlight from your product to your people.

Creating platforms that elevate your customers, not just your sales.

Building community, not just commerce.


When you do that, you don’t just sell more. You become indispensable.

So, if you’re ready to be a better community partner, increase your revenue, and celebrate your customers — let’s talk. Because sometimes the most powerful marketing strategy starts with three little words:

“I wouldn’t.”