GEARS Biography
by Paul Morton

I met Terry Greenhut for the first time at the recent Powertrain Expo in Las Vegas. He was in the Lee Myles booth on the show floor, surrounded by a cluster of new and old acquaintances, talking about whatever topic they brought with them. He was also fiddling with a new handheld electronic device that captured as much of his interest as did the conversation. It seemed to me that Greenhut was one who enjoyed learning how things worked as much as he did using them. My impression held up through our interview.

Terry Greenhut was born and reared in New York City, in a family that included a brother, two years his junior. He was educated in New York's public school system (in those endearing institutions with school names that start with a "PS"), and attended Bronx Community College for two years following high school. Like many young people, he had no clearly defined career goals, and felt his way through various options. He drove tractor-trailer rigs for a time, then found what he thought he was looking for. Greenhut became a New York City police officer. And he loved it. The new rookie looked promising, and was making good impressions in all the right places. But fate, sometimes, is a funny arbiter. After a year on the job, a pre-existing medical condition came to light, and Greenhut was told that his career was over.

Always good with his hands, Greenhut looked for something mechanical, and something that could keep his interest. For five years he found it as an elevator mechanic, but the interest in that waned as well. Perhaps it was, as he put it, "Time to do something for myself ... something that would allow me more control." He'd established part of what he needed in his vocation; something mechanical, and independent. Now if he could just apply it to something that ran horizontally, rather than vertically.

Greenhut was perusing the business section of the paper one day when he saw an advertisement for a nation-wide chain of transmission shops that was offering franchises for sale. He visited the franchise headquarters, and several of the shops throughout the greater New York area. He closely scrutinized the business operations, and thought it held real potential. Things came apart, however, when he told the company where he wanted to open his shop. They wouldn't approve the location, and wanted it elsewhere.

Greenhut thought about it, then dumped the franchise idea to open an independent shop in Mount Kisco, New York. He said at this point he knew little to nothing about automatic transmissions, but he had some ideas. He bought manuals on automatic transmissions and spent his nights pouring over them ... if not able to learn the practical part, then determined to learn the theory.

While searching for a technician to hire just before opening the shop, Greenhut received some sage advice from an experienced builder: "Hire two guys," the man said. "Then pick the one that's doing the best work, keep him, and let the other guy go." Greenhut did as suggested, and opened for business as "AAASTRO Transmissions" in 1975.

The first hint of difficulty came when he realized he had just missed the deadline for a Yellow Pages ad, and was forced to go without one for nearly 18 months. It may have been fortuitous, after all, because the lack of an ad caused the new shop owner to focus on outside sales for his business. And that led to a discovery that Greenhut was quick to turn to his advantage.

"No one was picking up or delivering cars," he said. The first thing he invested in was a tow truck, and he quickly put the word out among the general repair shops. "All they had to do was call. We did everything else." AAASTRO would pick the vehicle up, make the needed transmission repair, then return it to the original location. It was the niche Greenhut had been looking for, and he kept the practice up for the entire 25 years he owned the shop.

"We started out as a low-ball shop," Greenhut said, in order to get business established. As business increased, he adjusted his prices, and his customers began paying for the convenience of having their vehicles picked up and delivered. What evolved was just the opposite of how things started. "We became the top-priced shop in the area," he said, adding, "but always with the best service." This emphasis on service would become Greenhut's mantra: "Always give a little more than the customer expects ... more service, more product ... but ALWAYS get paid for it."

By 1978, business in the Kisco shop was doing well enough to spark the idea of opening a second shop. Greenhut found a location in White Plains, New York, and expanded his operation. After five years at that location the landlord decided to renovate the building for office space, and Greenhut's lease was not renewed. The community was undergoing urban renewal at the time, and suitable property was not to be found. He closed the White Plains shop, and focused his effort on the Mount Kisco shop.

Heading into the latter part of the '80's, the shop in Mount Kisco was doing well enough to require a staff of 12 employees. A significant change in business came in 1987, when a new General Motors program virtually eliminated independent repair work on GM transmissions by supplying dealers with low-cost, remanufactured units. With that, Greenhut began to focus more on retail customers and fleet accounts.

Another change in the industry was becoming very apparent. Automatic transmissions were becoming increasingly more complex in their design and operation, and the number of different units were growing at a mind-numbing rate. Greenhut could see the change in technology coming, and he interpreted it as opportunity. He also saw the need to better educate his customers, and become a better salesman.

Not long after opening his business several years earlier, Greenhut began his association with the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association (ATRA). He felt he had something to offer the industry, and became involved in the production of management operations bulletins. This evolved into the compilation of a management operations manual for shop owners that was published in late 1981. The manual was well received by shop owners across the country, and it became the genesis of a significant off-shoot of his work.

The manual began to generate calls from shop owners seeking more information and guidance. It wasn't long before Terry Greenhut found himself presenting seminars on the topic of shop management at venues across the country. In 1985 the venture became a business in and of itself, and he expanded the base to include general repair shops as well. It wasn't long before he was doing as many as 40 seminars a year across North America. The seminar work he does now is allied with a major auto parts company, and he is presently booked for 52 seminars in the year 2001.

In 1997, Terry Greenhut converted his independent transmission shop in Mount Kisco to a Lee Myles franchise shop. "It's a lot more cost-efficient," he said, adding, "it brings in more retail, has better advertising, and is generally a better system."

Earlier in 2000, Greenhut became the Director of Training for Lee Myles; perhaps an acknowledgement to himself that it is in training others that he has found his true niche in life. In August of this year he sold the Mount Kisco shop, freeing up more time for his work with Lee Myles and his training seminars. It may also free up some time for other interests, like golf, fishing, and riding his snowmobile in the winter.

For Greenhut, what is it that holds the attraction in training others? "It makes a difference," he said. A difference in how successful a business can become for someone, which in turn has a direct impact on their life.

Greenhut was quick to point out during our interview that he is not a motivational speaker. And I think he actually believes that. But motivating people is not always about appealing to them on an emotional level. Often times real motivation comes about when others see you as a successful professional who embodies many of the finer points of the industry. Which, in turn, moves them to walk that path as well. And that makes a difference for everyone.