So make sure the outside of the shop always looks its best. I am often surprised at how many retailers don't exploit their windows, preferring to display stacks of boxes behind dusty glass rather than using them as a showcase for their latest products.Piles of leaves and litter in the entrance and locked doors when the shop is open also give a negative impression. It is easy to become blind to how the showroom looks on the outside, so try standing on the pavement sometime and pass a critical eye over the exterior. 

This year, many of the shops I visited were offering discounts. Fluorescent orange stars announcing 20% off and posters designed to entice customers off the street with the promise of 'Sale bargains inside' soon lose their impact when they are faded and curling up at the corners. My advice is chuck them out and start again.

It's is a nice idea to have a reception desk close to the entrance. This saves customers wandering aimlessly round, unsure whom they should ask for assistance. A cheery greeting and the offer of help is all that is needed to make a customer feel welcome. Ignoring customers as they walk in is not a good policy. In Eastbourne, I encountered a woman who was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even look up as I paraded backwards and forwards in front of her desk. While in Cheltenham, two girls giggling and tucking into a packet of chocolate biscuits obviously felt my presence in the shop was an intrusion.

Many of the showrooms I visit are small, independent concerns with one busy person running the office as well as dealing with customers over the phone and in person. When I walk in, I don't expect you to end your call immediately or walk away from a customer you are already with, but it is nice to be acknowledged. Call out 'I'll be with you in a minute' or simply look up and make eye contact, but don't ignore me, that's just rude.In Altrincham, I spent 15 minutes wandering round a bathroom showroom in full view of the salesman who was deep in conversation with a fitter. They were discussing the supply of a particular tile and it was obviously important, but he didn't even glance in my direction. I made a third and final lap of the shop and then left.

Talking of telephone tactics reminds me of a particularly unpleasant incident in Eastbourne last summer. I sauntered into a bathroom showroom only to be met by a barrage of abuse. The tirade was issuing from one of the salesmen who was shouting at some unfortunate person down the phone. He was aware that I was in the shop, I made sure of that by loitering close to his desk, but the bellowing continued. I wouldn't buy a megaphone off that man, let alone a Roca bathroom suit

I'm not saying don't eat at all. If you are in the shop on your own, you are going to have to grab a bite of something at some point, but choose carefully. There are certain smells that work well in a kitchen showroom - warm bread, for instance, or freshly brewed coffee. But the pungent aroma of a tikka masala Pot Noodle or the lingering fragrance of cheese and onion crisps really doesn't do it for me. 

It is a popular misconception that the Mystery Shopper is male. I can now reveal that I am in fact female (average height, all my own teeth, GSOH). I have met many friendly and helpful retailers on my monthly outings. I enjoy a good chat and the majority of men I meet treat me with the respect that every potential customer deserves. However, there are still a few lads out there who need to be reminded to talk to my face not my chest. And lay off the jokes about sharing a twin-ended bath - I shall say no more.

In York, I had a lovely long natter with Sharon at Scammell Interiors and by the end of the conversation she had ascertained how I liked to cook, what I liked to eat, whether I had children and what colours and style of kitchen I preferred. This gentle interrogation helped her make some sensible suggestions about the features I might incorporate into my new kitchen. In Cardiff, Howard at Elegance rattled on about himself. He's a nice guy and he made me laugh, but after 45 minutes I knew a lot about him, and the butcher over the road, but I don't think he had learnt anything at all about me

Time and again I mark shops down because they are dirty. I have seen dead flies floating in spa baths, tea-stained work surfaces, gloss doors carrying a fine layer of dust and, on one particularly memorable visit to Southend, found cigarette butts in a WC. I don't want to come over all Kim and Aggie from How Clean is Your House, but please, please invest in a pack of dusters and bottle of Cif

At PTC Kitchens in Rochester, I was impressed by a bound volume of photographs showing beautiful kitchens installed by proprietor Paul Chantler. At RG Cole in Colchester, an entire wall was covered in letters of thanks from happy customers. Potts in Maidstone festooned its displays with copies of 25 Beautiful Kitchens that featured its projects, open at the appropriate page.If I were about to buy a kitchen or bathroom, I would find this evidence of expertise reassuring. Boasting is not a very British trait, but if you've installed a lovely kitchen or a stunning bathroom, or you have a loyal and devoted clientele, shout about it.

When I visited Ripples in Bath, I was given an excellent cup of coffee, which gave designer Rebecca the opportunity to sit me down at her desk and show me some bathroom plans she was currently working on. Claire, at Space Fitting Furniture Cardiff, went one better and cooked me a fresh batch of Welsh cakes. I'm not saying my good opinion is bought by the simple offer of refreshments - although it does help, but both these tactics resulted in my lingering longer in the shop.

I'm getting all girlie here, but I am partial to the occasional well-chosen accessory - fluffy towels draped over the end of the bath, attractive china and glass on the kitchen counter - that sort of thing. Leckhampton Bathrooms and Kitchens in Cheltenham had the right idea with black china and red glass used to great effect in a black gloss kitchen - this finishing touch brought the display to life.But if you are going to add accessories to your displays, do it properly or not at all. A scruffy flannel hanging limply on the edge of a basin or a dusty vase of plastic flowers plonked down on a kitchen dresser just looks dreadful.

When I hand out a less than flattering review, retailers have sometimes complained to our esteemed editor that 'I must have come on a bad day'. This implies that if they had known I was coming, they would have washed the windows, cleaned the displays and chucked out the Pot Noodle. Surely a potential customer could appear in the shop anytime? So, at the risk of sounding like an American self-help manual, endeavour to make every day a good day.