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\u00a9[freshidea] \/ Dollar Photo Club<\/p><\/div>In October, my team created a tongue-in-cheek video called \u201cReman vs Rebuilt\u201d in the spirit of Halloween and Frankenstein. A little over a month passed with nothing of interest to note, until a shop owner stumbled upon it a few days ago and took to the internet to share his feelings on his blog<\/a>. For not having spent the time to look at the video through your eyes until it was too late. For anything that could have been construed as a poke or stab at you.<\/p>\n For falling short of my own standard for never doing anything that requires an apology.<\/p>\n There\u2019s long been a rift between transmission shops and remanufacturers and it\u2019s time we talk about it. In reality, I\u2019ve mostly ignored the topic and stayed away from the discussion (eh, argument) because it\u2019s a sensitive one and it\u2019s hard to say anything without pissing someone off. I\u2019ve attended forums, conferences, expos, presentations, and I\u2019ve heard some really intelligent and insightful comments. I\u2019ve also heard some really stupid stuff. I say that there\u2019s no point in fighting amongst ourselves. If we can\u2019t get along with each other, we will never get along with the customer. So instead of fighting with each other, we should fight together\u2026for and on behalf of the customer.\u00a0 We should fight for what\u2019s best for the customer. Well, THAT is the secret. One you have to discover and uncover for each individual customer. You have to help them compare their options, understand their situation, and deliver value. Vehicle owners may ask you about a fifth option, a \u201cnew\u201d transmission. But you know as well as I do that \u201cnew\u201d pretty much doesn\u2019t exist except in a few rare cases.<\/p>\n Well, that depends. In the coming weeks, we\u2019ll take a look at each option and when it makes sense for a given customer. You can\u2019t build every transmission under the sun (and even if you could, there are many situations where you wouldn\u2019t want to), and I can\u2019t install a transmission over the phone. In October, my team created a tongue-in-cheek video called \u201cReman vs Rebuilt\u201d in the spirit of Halloween and Frankenstein. A little over a month passed with nothing of interest to note, until a shop owner stumbled upon it a few days ago and took to the internet to share his feelings on his blog. We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6,12],"tags":[374,376,378,380,382],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWe called said shop owner directly (and the three others who contacted us), wrote an open letter on the ATRA forum (which you can read here<\/a>), and we immediately removed the video from public view. I left it on YouTube as an unlisted video for the next three days. That way, these guys could continue to show the world what a buffoon I am. I figured that was more honorable than deleting the video and trying to cover up or hide a mistake.
\nUltimately, I had the video removed from YouTube completely. Why? Because the joke was over. Because when I watched it again with an objective attitude, with sympathy and empathy, I understood how and why someone who has spent their life as a transmission builder or shop owner could be offended. Because the video offered absolutely zero benefit to ETE REMAN, to the industry, and to our customers. While it\u2019s almost impossible to please everyone, knowing that I had participated in a video message that had the potential to divide old partners rather than align new ones just didn\u2019t sit right with me.<\/p>\nTo the ATRA members who took offense, I apologize. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nI failed to consider who I might offend by posting it in the first place. I\u2019m ok with offending people when I intend to. Sometimes that\u2019s a strategy in and of itself. But not this time. This time I never even imagined this could happen.
\nI watched the video, I laughed, and I approved it for posting. I failed to take the time to think. It took someone else to point out that I had done something that I preach against.
\nI\u2019ve always lived by the notion that you shouldn\u2019t talk bad about other people\u2026no matter what. In the video, we didn\u2019t talk bad about any person or any company particular, but we did poke fun at rebuilt transmissions and, indirectly, somebody could take that as a jab at the people who rebuild them.<\/p>\nTo the rebuilders of the world, I apologize. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
To our loyal readers, followers, customers, friends, competitors, and anybody else who happen to be reading this now, I apologize.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Now what?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says remanufacturers are the devil. Maybe not all remanufacturers, just the ones that are screwing up transmission shops by selling reman units to general repair shops.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says transmission shops are a dying breed. Maybe not all transmission shops, just the ones who haven\u2019t invested in education and technology. The ones that don\u2019t have the right equipment, or that can\u2019t find good help these days.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says rebuilt is better than reman\u2026because no dyno will ever be as good as putting the transmission in the car\u2026that\u2019s a real test!
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says reman is better than rebuilt\u2026because remanufacturers have CNC machines, engineers, and fancy dyno tests.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says rebuilt is better than reman\u2026because remanufacturers don\u2019t care about anything but profit. It\u2019s just business. They will cut corners to save a penny and sacrifice quality in the process. But rebuilders, well, they\u2019re not just building a transmission; they\u2019re installing their very reputation in the customer\u2019s car, so they\u2019re not interested in profit. They\u2019re interested in making sure the customer has the best transmission in the world.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says reman is better than rebuilt\u2026because with the hundreds of different types of transmissions out there today, no single builder can be an expert in all of them.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says rebuilt is better than reman\u2026because \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 30 years and most of these reman companies are in it just for the money.\u201d
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says reman is better than rebuilt\u2026because remanufacturers replace a lot more parts than rebuilders.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says rebuilt is better than reman\u2026because rebuilders replace a lot more parts than remanufacturers.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says reman is better than rebuilt\u2026because reman has a better warranty.
\nThere\u2019s the guy (or girl) who says rebuilt is better than reman\u2026because rebuilt has a better warranty.
\nI could go on and on and on and on. So could you. In less than five minutes, most of these discussions can easily turn into a pissing match or a \u201cMy kid is smarter than your kid\u201d contest.<\/p>\nWhat do I say?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThis article is the first in a series discussing the different options customers have when in need of a repair or replacement of a transmission.\u00a0 I\u2019m framing the series in this way because I want to keep the customer in the driver\u2019s seat (literally and figuratively, of course). You see, if you go into something thinking about protecting your interests, you will often make a decision based on what\u2019s best for you at the expense of doing something that\u2019s less than best for the customer.\u00a0 Oh, sometimes the stars will align and you can do both at once. I mean, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
\nThink about a situation where a customer comes in and says, \u201cI think I need my transmission replaced.\u201d You diagnose the car and discover that you can perform a minor repair (solenoid pack, valve body, or something similar) and get the customer back on the road for a couple hundred dollars, instead of the couple thousand the customer expected to spend. Some shops (not you, of course) would sell the full job and rebuild or replace the transmission. That\u2019s a short-term gain of $2,500, right? And the odds are the customer will never be the wiser.
\nIt\u2019s pretty rare that your short-term interests and your customer\u2019s best interests are in alignment, but I bet you\u2019ll find that when you really think about it\u2026doing what\u2019s best for your customers is also what\u2019s best for you in the long run. The customer who gets a minor repair tells all of his friends to go to your shop because you\u2019re honest and trustworthy. Maybe you left $2,000 on the table today, but you earned $20,000 (or more) from the referrals.
\nSo stop thinking \u201cend of week\u201d (aka, average weekly gross) and start thinking \u201cend of time.\u201d Loyalty leads to profit. And there\u2019s only one way to get loyal customers: You have to EARN them by doing what\u2019s right and what\u2019s best for them all of the time.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s best for the customer?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThere are essentially four options when it comes to \u201cfixing\u201d a transmission problem:<\/p>\n\n
So what\u2019s best?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nBut for now I can say this: when a customer is faced with a transmission problem, the only place that can really offer all of the above four options is a qualified transmission specialty shop.
\nWhich leads me to my next point:<\/p>\nWe need each other.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nYou can\u2019t act in the best interest of your customer if you don\u2019t have a remanufacturer at your disposal when appropriate, and I can\u2019t in good conscience sell a reman to a vehicle owner directly because they likely aren\u2019t capable of diagnosing the problem properly, of installing the transmission properly, and probably of even determining whether they need a transmission at all.
\nThere\u2019s so much that goes into the care and installation of a transmission these days that the average auto repair facility really isn\u2019t qualified to do it. The equipment required to do things properly today (hot flush machine, appropriate scanner with all the modules, OBDII-Ethernet interface, subscription to OE calibration service, and more) is expensive and it doesn\u2019t makes sense for many shops to purchase because they simply don\u2019t do enough transmission work to justify spending the money. And, no matter how well a transmission is remanufactured, it\u2019s not going to last long out in the field if the installing shop doesn\u2019t flush the cooler, or doesn\u2019t replace the radiator, or doesn\u2019t reflash the computer, or uses the wrong torque converter bolts, or doesn\u2019t fully seat the converter, or maybe just misdiagnosed the car in the first place.
\nWhen a transmission fails, that\u2019s often the effect. It\u2019s not hard to see that a transmission needs to be rebuilt or replaced when there\u2019s metal in the pan and the fluid is burnt. But what caused it? If the underlying, root cause isn\u2019t fixed, the replacement transmission will likely fail as well.
\nEducated, professional, transmission specialists are vital to remanufacturers and, more importantly, to vehicle owners.
\nI believe the same can be said about remanufacturers and their value to transmission specialists and vehicle owners alike.
\nWhat do you believe?
\nWhat do you think about the present state of relations between remanufacturers and rebuilders?
\nWhat do you think about the future of the industry?
\nWhat do you think about the future of the transmission specialty shop?
\nWhat changes would you like to see?
\nWhat\u2019s working? What\u2019s not?
\nLet\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"