I made my first trip to Ikea a few weeks ago and all I can say is, "Wow. That place is amazing." I have never seen so many furniture and houseware options in one place before. It was overwhelming. I was also amazed at the prices. They were more reasonable than I had thought. Somewhere along the way I assumed Ikea was high-end and expensive.

As I began to shop, I suddenly realized that everything in the store was modular. You could actually design an entertainment center, home office, or any other room solution you could think of, all using the elements surrounding you. Imagine that, a furniture solution that is custom designed at a retail price.

My satisfaction with this concept made me think of contractors and their customers. I wondered how many consumers out there consider HVAC to be a mandatory expense they have no choice in.

I understand that you can't just design whatever and slap it in a facility; there are standards and design principles to uphold. However, imagine if you could make a presentation to the customer that allowed them to put together a comfort solution customized to their needs and desires.

Perhaps you think you are already doing this, but does your customer? Think about it. How could you sell custom comfort that gets the customer excited about their HVAC purchase? Ikea makes furniture exciting, I bet we could figure out something exciting for the HVAC industry. Care to share your ideas in the comments?