1. An ambitious plan for our future…
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you’ve probably noticed a distinct change in the tempo of the
information flowing out of the Cottman Home Office. You’ve also probably noticed a marked increase in the use of technology
in the form of Webinars, E-blasts, Voice-blasts and the soon-to-be-unveiled NEW Cottman Website. Behind the scenes we just
implemented a customized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to help us to improve our data tracking for each
location (site visits, email communications, legal documents, etc.), and our new Point Of Sale (POS) software beta test is well
under way. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re moving full speed ahead to build a world-class organization and the days of antiquated
business practices and limited data will soon be behind us.
With this in mind, following is a list of projects your Cottman Home Office team is actively addressing:
As I mentioned during our Convention
last month, there is no question that
Cottman has experienced some significant
transitional challenges these past few years,
however it is incumbent upon all of us to
look forward instead of backwards. One of the greatest benefits of being a smaller organization is our ability to adapt to
change quickly, and that’s exactly what we need to do in order to stay ahead of our competition. We are at a unique point in
the lifecycle of our company and the actions we take today will determine where we go tomorrow.
Let’s work together to build a company where YOUR PROFITABILITY is the goal and where every Cottman location is
functioning at peak efficiency and effectiveness.
Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you at our next Town Hall meeting.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Rick
Town Talk 2
Internet Domination 3
Is Air Conditioning as Challenging As it Appears? 4
Center in the Spotlight: Wheat Ridge and Denver, CO 6
Highlights from 2010 convention 7

2. Cottman Transmitter Page 2
Town Talk By Joe Josko
In this month’s Town Talk I’d like us all to take a stroll down some very familiar streets that have undergone
some recent changes. It’s our town ―Cottman‖ and most importantly one building in town, our city hall ―The Home
Office‖. As I’m sure you all know by now we have a new Mayor of our town, our newly appointed President Rick
Basch.
It was my pleasure to take Rick on the initial drive around our town, and the one
thing that impressed him the most was the spirit, drive and determination of all of As the mayor, Rick brings with
the residents. However as the mayor he was distressed by what he saw as glaring him a ton of franchise experience
weaknesses in ―utilities and public services.‖ and more importantly a level of
enthusiasm, both for the
He immediately set out to improve our town’s communication network thru traditional values we hold dear,
webinars, emails, voice blasts, Strategic Planning Council meetings and monthly and for the modernization and
Town Hall meetings where he reports on current changes and takes suggestions. improvement of our city.
Rick is also not a mayor who is difficult to reach.
He noticed immediately that the way the town’s folk kept track of their day to day
activities was quite dated and not well suited for the needs of a modern and diverse city. He immediately began to search
for a new POS system, and has at this point installed the system in seven ―beta test‖ centers. When rolled out this new
software will have a tremendous impact on helping each and every resident to evaluate their business, and will no-doubt
increase efficacy and, most importantly, profit. Rick has instructed Kevin Gordon, the town’s Public Relations Director,
to make sure that more and more folks are aware of our fair village and have the desire to visit us on a regular basis, and
Kevin is working with the most up-to-date electronic media to ensure that folks far and wide want to visit us.
As with most public officials today Rick is glaringly aware of the need for creative financing to ensure the healthy
growth of our town. In an era where banks are tightening their belts, Rick is investigating (with the help of several towns
folk) several creative and aggressive sources of financing for our visitors. He will be announcing a number of solutions
to this challenge shortly. He has evaluated the financial status of the residents and has pledged to initiate programs and
ideas to help each and every resident improve their earned income. Several of these were introduced at our recent
Convention and Rick feels the information is so important to the health of the town and its future growth that he has
committed to traveling to the most distant parts of our city in person to conduct local ―mini-conventions‖ to spread the
word.
Also like most newly appointed officials, Rick has paid attention to ―City Hall‖ itself, embarking on a redecorating
program that clearly shows the pride for our fair city and no visitor will mistake our city hall for any other with its
colorful banners, freshly painted hallways, separate entrance and individual training facilities. Rick hopes this will spark
enthusiasm among the Town Hall employees and town folk, with the hope that they too will join in the modernization
and revitalization by sprucing up their individual businesses.
He has also initiated a program with Kevin Gordon to recognize residents who take
pride and initiative to make their shops stand out. These citizens will be publicly
recognized as part of our town’s ―Five Star‖ program for residents who go above and
beyond in promoting our city. He has also initiated new signage to better identify our
town and its mission statement and five of our business owners have already hung the
new signage with more ordering it each day.
It doesn’t stop there as Rick has a defined list of other goals and changes needed in
upcoming months, so please join us at our ―Town Hall‖ meetings the last Tuesday of each month to catch up on the local
gossip, swap some stories and catch a glimpse of what the future holds for our town!

3. Cottman Transmitter Page 3
As we continue our efforts to make the Cottman name as For example; let’s say that your budget is $500 per month. We
visible as possible on the Internet and to drive clicks & leads split that to be roughly $17 per day. The average cost per click
to individual centers, we are launching the first step in our hovers around $2.20 per click. This means on a given day your
website redesign project for 2010 – Local Landing Pages. ad would be up until you generated 8 clicks / leads ($17/$2.20
= 8 clicks). Once you hit that number of clicks your ad goes
A vast majority of you are already participating in our local dark until the next day. Want more clicks?
SEM (paid search / pay per click) program. This program Increase the monthly budget.
generates actionable leads for your business when potential
customers are searching for ―transmission repair Burlington‖ As you look at this sample landing page please notice that it
or ―car repair Beltsville‖ and drives them to your local landing has a new fresh look and feel plus it has been designed to
pages for conversion. maximize conversions. The two main drivers from a consumer
standpoint is your center info, in particular your phone number
Think of the local landing pages as a permanent direct mail ad and the coupon to print to get a discount on services. If they
which is up on the Internet every day. You ―bid on‖ or ―buy‖ click on the ―more information‖ button, they will discover
leads from Google, Yahoo and Bing when people are more detailed information about your individual center.
searching for one of the keywords and they are using a com-
puter in your area or they type in a localizer like ―Trenton NJ‖. The redesign of the main Cottman website continues to be a
Your ad will appear throughout the day on a periodic basis work in progress and is due to go live at the end of July.
until your budget for the day is exhausted.
By Kevin Gordon
New Cottman landing page
http://cottman-locations.15miles.com/(city)

4. Cottman Transmitter Page 4
Is Air-conditioning As Challenging
As It Appears?
By Bob Afflerback
As more Cottman Centers start doing Total Auto Care, the same question keeps coming up. Should I consider doing
air conditioning? My answer is absolutely.
Check the other auto repair centers in your area. I’ll bet you can count on one hand the number of places that
advertise air conditioning repair. This means that your competition is small and your customer base is huge. Just
about every car on the road is or was air conditioned.
There are two problems with doing air conditioning repair. The first is equipment, the second is understanding the
system. I’ll talk about the equipment shortly.
Air conditioning really hasn’t changed much since 1934. The biggest change has been with the gas. In the early days
the system used ammonia. Then it went to R-12 and now it uses R-134A. Other than that the system still works like it
did in 1934.
The compressor on an air conditioner compresses
the gas into a liquid. This generates heat. The
liquid is sent to the condenser to be cooled, and
then through an orifice to the evaporator where is
expands and turns cold. The fan blows air across
the cold evaporator and you have air conditioning.
In most cases when an air conditioner doesn’t blow
cold it is low on refrigerant. This can be caused by
a damaged condenser, a leaking evaporator or a
leaking hose. But, in most cases it’s simply caused
by a bad o-ring. The o-rings used as seals in an air
conditioner aren’t any better than the o-rings used
in an automatic transmission. But, changing these
o-rings is considerably easier.
When a customer brings a car in with an air
conditioner that is blowing hot air, the first thing to
do is see if the compressor is running. If not, locate
the low pressure safety switch (See Picture on next page). Here’s a picture of a hose that is leaking. The oily
If it is a 2-wire switch connect the wires together substance on the hose is the compressor oil that was
with a cotter pin. If it’s a single wire switch short carried out with the refrigerant.
the wire to ground. If the compressor comes on
the system is low on refrigerant.
This is where it becomes important to have the correct equipment. The days of just adding freon are gone. The best
way to check an air conditioner for leaks is to connect your machine, suck out any old refrigerant that is in the system,
reclaim it and recharge the system. Then you can use your leak detector to determine what is leaking.
Once you find the leak the repair is usually very simple. Remove the refrigerant from the system, fix the leak and
evacuate the system. Once you’ve pulled a vacuum on the system and before you add refrigerant leave the car sit
about 10 minutes. If the system holds vacuum recharge and you’re done. If the system loses more than one inch of
vacuum for every 5 minutes the car sits you still have a leak. Address the leak and recharge the system.

5. Cottman Transmitter Page 5
Is Air-conditioning as challenging as it appears?
Continued from page 4
One place you want to be careful when it comes
to air conditioning is when a customer brings in a
car that has had a catastrophic compressor failure.
Most repeat compressor failures are caused by the
system not being properly cleaned after the
original compressor failure.
The refrigerant is the catalyst that carries the oil
through the air conditioning system. In the case
of a catastrophic compressor failure the dirt and
metal particles will be carried through the entire
system. If system isn’t properly cleaned this dirt
and metal will be carried into you new compressor
causing it to fail.
If you have an air conditioner with a bad
compressor remove the lines at the evaporator.
Wipe the inside of the evaporator with a white rag
or your finger. If you find dirt and metal you may If you turn the air conditioner on and the
want to pass on the repair. To remove some of these compressor doesn’t run, try bypassing one of
evaporators requires you to remove the dash. these switches. If the compressor turns on the
system is low on refrigerant.
So now that you’ve decided that you want to do
AC where do you start? Well you’ll need some
equipment. If you contact Connie Lineman or Greg
Adams they can set you up. Greg has put together a
package that will get you what you need.
Also you will need to have at least one
technician in your shop that is certified in air
conditioning. This is really very simple. Go to
WWW.MACSW.ORG and click on the tab for
section 609. You can download the 40-page
manual for free. After you’ve looked through
the manual and feel comfortable contact
WWW.MACSW.ORG again and for a small fee
they will send you the test. Pass the test and you are
ready to go.
Here’s a job you might want to pass on. One you get set up and start doing air conditioning
The compressor has failed and contaminated the you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it earlier.
entire system. Properly cleaning this system can
take hours.

6. Cottman Transmitter Page 6
Center in the Spotlight
Jim Dietvorst, Denver and Wheatridge, CO
There’s been a lot of finger-pointing in the aftermath of the So, Jim has assembled a team built on a solid, winning foun-
BP Oil Spill. The giant oil company accepts the blame and dation and has customer testimonials to prove his point.
is widely derided for human error of monumental
Take the Cottman experience of Jeff and Patty Waller of
proportions. Most observers assume that such a major
St. Peters, MO, who were bowled over by the unexpected
catastrophe has to be the result of someone’s failure to
treatment from Jim’s Denver team.
maintain systems and protocols designed to avert such a
calamity. After all, every successful enterprise should have ―We were traveling from Missouri to Utah when our
some mandated system or discipline that, when properly transmission started acting up in Kansas on a Saturday
executed, avoids the likelihood of problems and leads the afternoon. We started calling transmission shops ahead of
way to success. Shouldn’t they? us and were surprised when Mark answered at your Denver
shop. He told us they were not open on Sunday but would
That is definitely the case with our enterprise. We establish
meet us there and offered to take a look. We spent the night
a system to deal with the public, handle their vehicles, build
outside of Denver and when we entered the city the next
trust and gain consumer confidence that leads to a major
morning, my cell phone rang. It was Mark checking to be
investment in our individual centers’ skill and knowledge.
sure we had not broken down somewhere. We were so
Right thinking Cottman dealers, such as Jim Dietvorst of
surprised that he took the time to call and check on us.
Denver, CO , understand the discipline needed to make their
What excellent customer service! But the story doesn’t end
business grow and execute to the delight of their satisfied
there. Mark and Shane drove the truck, told us we did have
customers. In fact, Jim Dietvorst knew from the start what it
a major problem and would begin work ASAP. By 3:30 on
took to make his Cottman centers thrive:
Monday, the work was completed. We want to thank them
for making a bad situation not so bad and keeping our
vacation from being a total disaster.‖
Jim’s other Cottman location in the suburb of Wheatridge,
CO also gets high marks from satisfied customers who also
have sincere praise to share regarding the integrity of Jim
and his Wheatridge crew.
―I recently had a profound clunk develop in my pickup
truck. Jim set up a time to meet me first thing Monday
morning. They test drove it, put it up on the rack and
confirmed that a u-joint had gone bad. I told them about
some transmission problems I thought I was experiencing
and asked if it should be rebuilt. Bottom line, Cottman
L to R: Jim Dietvorst, owner of the Wheatridge and repaired the u-joint and confirmed that my transmission was
Denver, CO centers and “Transmission Physician” of sound. The total charge was $180. Thanks for a job well
2009 and Rick Basch, President of Cottman Transmission. done.‖
―I was looking for a need-based business opportunity‖, says ―We know that every customer is different‖, notes Jim,
Jim, ―And by that I mean a business people will still need ―Some are just passing through and others may never
when times are tough and spending options at the limit. require us to perform a major transmission service. But, if
When people come to you in a bad economy, think of the we treat each one of those customers with the same
possibilities when things start to improve.‖ commitment to honesty, value and service, then we have
Jim also knew that he needed a basic business discipline fulfilled our discipline as a team and can work towards
to bind all members of his sales and service team into one future success and less likelihood of any customer
cohesive unit. ―Customer Service has to be the underlying calamities.‖
premise of what everyone in our organization works For the outstanding team effort of both of his Cottman
toward‖, says Jim. ―Without that kind of foundation, a team centers, Jim Dietvorst’s Wheatridge and Denver locations
really doesn’t have the discipline to succeed.‖ make the grade as this month’s ―Centers in the Spotlight‖.
By Carol Kohlmier
Director of Customer Service

7. Cottman Transmitter Page 7
The 2010 Cottman National Convention was a great success. It started off with an evening of interactive fun at the
Welcome reception followed the next day with presentations by the home office team and dinner and entertainment.
The dinner honored many centers and center owners that had gone above and beyond in 2009. Below is a list of some
the centers that set the bar for all the other centers and the center owners who worked tirelessly to perk up their centers.
A few of the 2010 Cottman Annual Convention Award Winners...
Cal West Award—Phil Montagno (Paoli, PA)
Founder’s Award—Ken Barker (Beltsville and Waldorf, MD)
Cottman Man Award—Phil Montagno (Paoli, PA)
Person of the Year Award—Phil Esposito ( Fern Park, FL)
Transmission Physician Award—Jim Dietvorst (Wheatridge and Denver, CO)
Manager of the Year– Greg Hulce (Louisville, KY)
Top Gross Sales Awards
1. Paoli, PA
2. Gretna, LA
3. Denver (Broadway), CO
4. Waldorf, MD
5. Emmaus, PA
Top 5 Total Auto Care Left: Rick Basch, President of Cottman
1. Waldorf, MD Transmission.
2. Gretna, LA Right: Nick Carpinello (Cincinnati,
3. Oldsmar (Tampa)), FL OH) winner of the grand prize
4. Fern Park, FL giveaway vacation.
5. Olathe, KS
From left to right:
Dan West (Gretna, LA), Phil Esposito (Fern
Park, FL), Phil Montagno (Paoli, PA) and
Jim Dietvorst (Wheat Ridge and Denver, CO)
Left: Rick Basch, President of
Cottman Transmission.
Right: Joe Giovanniello (The
TAC Dealer Panel. From left to right: From left to right: Woodlands, TX) one of the
Ken Barker (Beltsville and Waldorf, MD), Bob & Cindy Cowie (Norfolk, VA), Rick winners of the Customer Service
Dan Harrington (Des Moines, IA) and Phil Hoover (Oldsmar, FL), Phil Esposito awards.
Esposito (Fern Park, FL), (Fern Park, FL), Ken Barker( Beltsville &
Waldorf, MD) and Dan West (Gretna, LA)