If you've been telling yourself "nobody wants to work" or "Indeed is broken" — I need you to hear something. You don't have a shortage problem. You have a strategy problem. And the reason it feels impossible is because you're fighting 3 separate battles with 1 tool (a job ad and a prayer). I've worked with over 200 shops in the last seven years. I've had 500+ conversations with shop owners about this exact issue. And here's what I've found: The shops that hire fast aren't luckier. They're just solving 3 different problems instead of pretending it's 1. LET'S BREAK THESE PROBLEMS DOWN PROBLEM #1: ATTENTION (The tech you want isn't looking for you) One of our shop owner clients said it best after I showed him the salary survey we created for him: "I was amazed to see what the actual pool of techs who are looking actually is. We are all chasing the same people who are looking for work." That's it. That's the whole problem with Indeed. You post for an A-tech. Oil changers apply. You spend $1,000/month and get nothing. You never reach top talent. Why? Because the tech you actually want is at work right now. They're not browsing job boards. They're not searching "auto tech jobs near me." They're clocking in every morning at a shop that probably doesn't appreciate them. They might leave — but only if something clearly better crosses their path. The shift: Stop thinking like an employer posting a job. Start thinking like a marketer running a campaign. Job board = fishing in a pond that's been fished out. Recruitment marketing = building a magnet (the right bait) in front of fish that swim in other ponds. PROBLEM #2: ENGAGEMENT (Getting them to respond, show up, and not ghost you) Even when the right tech sees your opportunity — they still have to: → Reply → Interview → Actually show up. And most won't. Because they're employed. They've got fear and friction: "What if my boss finds out?" "What if this is bait-and-switch?" "I don't have time for a long process."

If you only ask "Tell me about your experience"… you deserve the hire you get. I mean that. Because here's what happens. Somebody walks in, shakes your hand firmly, says all the right things about flat rate and diag hours, and you think — this is the one. Three months later you're walking on eggshells around them. They won't follow your processes. They blame everybody else when something goes sideways. And the rest of your team is giving you that look. You know the one. You've been here before. And the problem was never that the candidate lacked skill. The problem was you interviewed for the wrong things. I've talked to hundreds of shops over the last seven years. The ones who consistently hire well — and keep those people — don't ask better technical questions. They ask better human questions. Here's what they screen for (before skill ever enters the conversation): THE 3 THINGS THAT MATTER MORE THAN SKILL 1. Communication and presence. Can they explain something clearly? Do they make eye contact? How do they handle a question they don't know the answer to? One shop owner told me recently: "Personality, eye contact, how they talk — more important than knowing how to write an estimate." He's right. You can train your POS system. You can't train someone to tell the truth under pressure. 2. Structure tolerance. Do they thrive with SOPs and written expectations, or do they create "eggshells" every time you try to hold them accountable? Here's the thing lots of owners miss: people freak out when expectations aren't written down and they get corrected later. That's not a discipline problem. That's a communication problem you created. But — and this is important — the interview is where you find out if someone wants structure or fights it. Big difference. 3. Training buy-in (agreed BEFORE the hire). This one's non-negotiable. You must get agreement on training expectations before the person starts. It's hard to change people after you have them.

If you're an independent in North Carolina… five corporate moves just landed in your backyard. In one week. That's not just "industry news." That's a hiring event. Here's why. The day a shop gets bought, a percentage of techs start asking themselves the same question: "Do I still want to work here when the suits show up?" Your job is to be the obvious answer waiting for them when they decide they don't. I pulled the Feb 9–13 recap. At least 12+ independent locations changed hands in 5 days. Here's what happened and exactly how to use it to fill your bays. WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK ❗ SUN AUTO made a cluster move across the Carolinas plus Mississippi. When you see "cluster," think regional fortress. They're not buying one shop — they're locking down a geography. ❗ STRAIGHTAWAY planted their flag in Idaho and they're eyeing Washington state next. Growth sprints to hit investor milestones. Culture usually pays the price when you're moving that fast. ❗ DRIVEN BRANDS freed up €411M to refocus on the US market. That's a war chest, not a budget. ❗ LEFT LANE CAPITAL / BERTRAM grabbed a platform acquisition in Maine targeting the broader Northeast. ❗ STRICKLAND BROTHERS secured fresh financing. Translation: more acquisitions are coming. ❗ VIP TIRES continuing to scale regionally. That's a lot of movement for one week. WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS FOR YOU Here's what most people miss. Consolidators aren't just buying revenue. They're buying labor. And when they cluster shops in a region, they start doing things like: ⚠️ Standardizing benefits. ⚠️ Pushing quotas. ⚠️ Rotating techs between locations. ⚠️ Centralizing parts and pricing. ⚠️ Adding layers of management. ⚠️ "Optimizing" dispatch. Sounds efficient on paper. But here's what it feels like on the shop floor: - "I'm a number now." - "They promised training but it's all politics." - "The GM changed and the vibe is weird." - "They want speed over pride." I hear some version of this from techs constantly.

A college football coach named Curt Cignetti walked into a 3-9 program and somebody asked him why they should believe he could turn it around. Four words: "I win. Google me." Bold. Almost arrogant. But here's what made it real — He didn't just talk different. He changed what was rewarded. Not effort. Not potential. Not "he's got a great attitude." Production. Proof. Evidence. And the players who couldn't hang with that? They self-selected out. He didn't have to fire the culture problem. The culture solved itself — because the standard was no longer negotiable. I want you to sit with something this weekend. Not a hiring tactic. Not an interview question. Something harder. Your team already knows what you tolerate. They know which comebacks get ignored. They know which tech rolls in late and nothing happens. They know when you let a weak process slide because you're short-staffed and tired. And they calibrate to that. Not to your mission statement. Not to what you said in the Monday meeting. To what you actually tolerate on a Wednesday afternoon when you're buried. That's your real standard. Cignetti didn't fix Indiana by finding better players. He fixed it by making the standard so clear that the right people wanted in — and the wrong people stopped showing up. Same thing works in your shop. When your standards are visible, you don't have to chase A-players. They find you. Because the best techs in your market are quietly watching how you run things. They're talking to your parts guy. They're hearing things from the tool dealer. They already know whether your shop is the real deal or just another place that talks big and tolerates small. So here's your one question for the weekend: What am I currently tolerating that's silently telling my team (and every potential hire in my market) exactly who I am? Don't answer it here. Answer it honestly, to yourself, over coffee Saturday morning. And if you don't like the answer — Monday is a clean slate.

The two images below are ready for your shop's Facebook page. Pick the one that feels right. Just one. HERE'S THE DESCRIPTION TEXT TO GO ALONG WITH THE IMAGE "We don't work weekends. That's time for family and the things you love. We want our employee's lives to work inside and outside of the shop." Here's your move: → Post it on your FB business page → Boost it for $20 — 10-mile radius → Come back here and tell us what happened This is passive recruiting. Stop telling technicians your culture is great. Show them. Every employed tech within 10 miles scrolling on Sunday will see it. Let that sink in. 👇