HVAC sales became a national punchline when comedian Shane Gillis hosted “Saturday Night Live” last month. At this point, I’m fairly certain everyone in the industry has seen the sketch, “Upfront Heating & Air Conditioning,” because my social media has been flooded with commentary.

The sketch starts out perfectly normal: “Looks like someone needs a new heating and air conditioning system. That can be scary.” That’s perfectly true. So far, so good, right? Then, the next line hits: “Most companies have high fees, hidden costs, and a lack of transparency. Not us. At Upfront Heating & Air Conditioning, we’ll tell you from the beginning: this whole process is going to be a nightmare.”

The sketch takes a sharp turn when the friendly, professional salesperson who wins the homeowner’s trust disappears, never to be seen again. Instead, a crew of bizarre, unprofessional workers arrives, bringing everything from cigarette smoking and muddy footprints to unsettling personal quirks and a domestic dispute between one worker and his girlfriend. The exaggerated chaos turns a routine HVAC installation into a homeowner’s nightmare, driving home the disconnect between the polished sales pitch and the people who ultimately represent the company in the home.

Craig Bennett, a Nexstar Network business coach manager with 30 years’ experience in the HVAC industry, says the SNL sketch resonates because HVAC replacement is often an intimidating experience for homeowners who must find a trustworthy contractor to enter their home and guide them through a significant investment. Combined with financial anxiety and uncertainty, consumer horror stories involving high-pressure sales tactics, bait-and-switch practices, and poor workmanship create fertile ground for comedy. “Like all great stories, there's usually a little truth mixed in with an abundance of fiction,” Bennett says, noting that while homeowners may have experienced some of the situations portrayed, the sketch exaggerates those frustrations to an absurd level. He adds that the industry's historical failure to prioritize customer experience has contributed to negative perceptions and uncertainty about what homeowners should expect when hiring a contractor.

Bennett challenges every contractor to take off their contractor hat and put on their customer hat. “If this were your home, your family, and your hard-earned money, what would you want that experience to look and feel like? Now build your process around delivering exactly that.”

For me, the funniest part of the sketch is when Gillis challenges the homeowner to guess what he’s holding, and he’ll do the job for free. What makes that moment so funny is that Gillis turns a seemingly harmless challenge into a no-win situation — the homeowner gives the correct answer, but the salesperson simply denies it, then admits to the audience that the customer was right. For HVAC contractors, it's a reminder that trust can evaporate when customers feel the rules are rigged against them. In a business built on helping homeowners make expensive decisions about equipment they may not fully understand, honesty shouldn't be a game — and the customer shouldn't have to outsmart the salesperson to get a fair deal.

“Perception is reality, and whether we like it or not, there’s room for improvement when it comes to the public's perception of the home services trades,” Bennett says. “That's certainly not a reflection of the countless outstanding contractors who go above and beyond for their customers every day. But the reality is that these stereotypes exist, and overcoming them requires more than simply disagreeing with the portrayal. It requires consistently demonstrating something better… Price will always matter, but value is what creates lasting relationships.”

He references a quote commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

“The greatest opportunity for our industry isn't to sell more HVAC systems. It's to elevate the experience of doing business with a contractor to a level that changes a customer’s expectations and experience entirely,” Bennett adds.

Bottom line: HVAC contractors can't control the jokes people tell about the trade. They can control whether the next homeowner has a reason to believe them.

Get more insights from Bennett in our full Q&A.