There are two kinds of shops in this community right now. I want you to figure out which one you are — because what you need next depends entirely on the answer. Shop #1 is in crisis mode. They've got an empty bay. A full schedule. And no one to put under the lift. Maybe a tech quit. Maybe one got hurt. Maybe Monday morning came and somebody just... didn't. These owners aren't sleeping well. They're rescheduling customers. The remaining techs are burning out. And every day that bay sits empty, it's costing them $800, $1,200, $1,500, or more — depending on the shop. They need a hire. Fast. That's what Technician Find is for. We draft world-class ads, run 24 to 48 targeted ads, generate a consistent flow of qualified applications, and help you get a tech across the finish line. It's a subscription — month to month, no contracts. When you need us, we're there. When you've hired, we go away. If that's you right now — if you're staring at an empty bay and you need someone yesterday — DM me. That's a different conversation and we'll take care of you. But here's the thing. Most of you aren't Shop #1 Shop #2 is fully staffed. Bays are full. Production is solid. Things are... fine. And that word — "fine" — is the most dangerous word in your business. Because "fine" is what every shop owner says six months before the crisis. Before the tech who's been quietly unhappy finally snaps and walks out. Before the guy with 40 years experience tears his shoulder and doesn't come back. Before the new hire takes a dealership offer the day before he's supposed to drop his toolbox at your shop. I've had all three of those conversations. This year. And every single one of those owners said the same thing: "I didn't see it coming." Followed by: "I don't have anyone to call." Here's what most shops get wrong: They treat hiring as an event. Something that happens when someone leaves. But the smartest shops I've seen — the ones who never panic — they treat hiring like maintenance.

You search your customer database. Nothing. You check your repair orders. No match. You read the review again and your stomach turns — because the language is almost identical to another 1-star review that showed up just 7 days ago. This isn't an unhappy customer. This is an attack. That's exactly what happened to @Eddie Lawrence. Eddie's a member of this community and the owner of MTR in Colorado Springs — a shop he's been building for close to 30 years. Someone was smearing MTR's name with customers, vendors, and even his own team through a variety of methods including fake Google reviews. Eddie didn't just sit there and take it. He reached out to me and we fought back, got the reviews removed, and Eddie documented the entire process step by step so you'd know exactly what to do if this happens to you. I'm going to walk you through his playbook in a minute. But first — here's the thing most shop owners don't realize: Negative reviews aren’t just a sales problem. They’re a recruiting filter. If a tech sees you don’t respond, they don’t assume “busy.” They assume “drama.” And they move on. When a tech is thinking about applying to your shop — or when they've already applied and they're doing their homework on you — one of the first things they do is check your Google reviews. And when they see unresponded-to negative reviews? They ghost. I've seen it happen over and over again across hundreds of shops. A great candidate goes silent and the shop owner can't figure out why. Then I look at their Google profile and there are 3 negative reviews with zero responses sitting right there on page one. Silence is never neutral. It's always interpreted negatively. So here's the playbook. Whether you're dealing with an unhappy customer or an outright fraud, here's exactly how to handle negative reviews — ranked from best-case to worst-case scenario. THE REVIEW RESPONSE HIERARCHY 🥇 Best outcome: Get them to take the review down.

In order to get acquainted and and help fellow community members, please share: 1. The name and location of your shop. 2. Your biggest frustration with finding techs. 3. How you found your last tech.

A shop owner told me something a while back that I haven't been able to shake. He said: "One of our techs lost his shit. Pushed a service advisor up against the wall. And quit." This was a tech he wanted to keep. A great producer. The kind of guy who made everyone around him better. But here's the part that wrecked the owner: He wasn't surprised. He knew this tech had been quietly suffering. Issues piling up. Frustrations brewing. But the shop was busy. Cars were stacked. And there was never a "good time" to have the hard conversation. So the tech blew up. Walked out. So the owner was left staring at an empty bay on a Monday morning with a full schedule and zero options. He called me that afternoon. Not because he wanted to hire. Because he had to. And that's the difference that will eat your lunch every single time. Here's what I've learned after nearly 8 years of helping shops hire — and over 500 conversations with owners just like you: The crisis is never the tech who leaves. The crisis is having nobody to call when they do. I hear it constantly in this community: "If I get one call out, it hurts." "Any time a tech is sick or on vacation it turns the whole place upside down." "I've depleted my bench." "I don't want to be in desperation." And then there's my personal favorite heartbreaker — the owner who told me: "Heavy sigh — maybe it's time for me to sell." All because a tech left for a dealer that promised factory training they'll never deliver. That's not a hiring problem. That's a bench problem. HERE'S THE BRUTAL TRUTH Most shops don't have a bench. They have a prayer. They're fully staffed today. Everything's running. Bays are full. And they think that means they're safe. But one resignation, one injury, one Monday morning no-show — and they're right back on Indeed. Sorting through the same junk. The Domino's driver who saw the salary and figured "how hard can it be to turn a wrench?" The C tech pretending to be an A tech who can't answer basic diagnostic questions.

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.