As an industry, we keep saying we’re “short on techs,” but the best ones aren’t hiding—they’re just ignoring shops that look the same. After 7 years of conversations and 100+ exit interviews, the pattern is blunt: 1) Wrong pond, wrong bait.We blast generic job-board ads and expect top performers to bite. They don’t. They move through referrals, reputation, and communities where your shop rarely shows up. 2) Leaving beats staying (on paper). Great techs flirt with opening a shop not because they want payroll headaches, but because it promises three things they’re missing: respect, control over income, and real growth. 3) The 3-circle gap (why they quit): - Respect: Real open-door policy, not lip service. Clear communication, decisions with tech input. - Money: Competitive comp that tracks value, not tenure. Transparent paths to higher earnings. - Growth: Personal AND Professional training, tooling, and a ladder beyond “turn more hours”. Great employees want to go with shops that want their life to work inside and outside of the shop. When all three circles overlap, two things happen fast: - Retention sticks. People stop taking recruiter calls. - Attraction turns magnetic. You stop “hiring” and start selecting. The “shortage” mostly exists in shops trying to win with one circle (usually Money) and hoping the rest will sort itself out. If you want fewer resignations this quarter, start here: audit your Respect–Money–Growth overlap. Then replace job-board spam with proof—tech-facing videos, team-led referrals, and visible systems that make great techs say, “Yep, I can thrive there.” The future isn’t about convincing kids to join the industry—it’s about building shops worth joining.

Yesterday I heard a story from a client that I had to share. Mike, a shop owner from Dallas called his business coach in a panic. "I just found out through the grapevine that THREE of my best techs are looking at other shops," he said. "One already has an offer. I had no idea they were unhappy." Sound familiar? Here's the kicker: All three techs had been with Mike for 5+ years. They weren't leaving for money. They were leaving because of something Mike never saw coming - they felt invisible. One tech later told him: "You talk to me when something's broken or when I mess up. But you never ask how I'm doing or what would make my job better." Ouch. LESSON: Mike learned something that changed everything: Exit interviews are autopsies. By then, your tech is already gone. What he needed were "Stay Interviews" - proactive, 10-minute weekly conversations that catch problems while you can still fix them. Here's the exact system Mike implemented (that kept all 3 techs from leaving): The Monday Morning Stay Interview Process Step 1: The 3-Question Check-In (5 minutes) Every Monday, Mike asks each of his top techs: 1. "What's one thing that went well for you last week?" 2. "What's one frustration you're dealing with right now?" 3. "If you could change one thing about your job this week, what would it be?" Step 2: The Early Warning Scorecard (2 minutes) Mike tracks these 5 flight-risk indicators weekly: - Energy level (1-10) - Tool/equipment complaints - Customer and team interactions and overall mood - Initiative on jobs (taking on challenges vs. bare minimum) - Water cooler talk (engaged vs. withdrawn) Any score dropping 2+ points = immediate deeper conversation Step 3: The Fix-It Promise (3 minutes) Mike commits to addressing ONE issue each week - even small ones. - Week 1: Fixed the shop fan that had been broken for 6 months - Week 2: Changed the parts ordering process that was driving everyone crazy - Week 3: Started rotating who gets the gravy jobs

For years, I've been telling shop owners that "chatting up the tool guy" for tech leads was a dying strategy. Tool dealers are getting bombarded from every angle—everyone wants the same thing: "Know any good techs?" It's exhausting for them. And frankly, ineffective for you. But here's what I missed... I was talking to a shop owner today and she shared a story that flipped my perspective: Her A-tech was quietly job hunting and asked the tool guy for a reference letter to land a dealer position. But here's the twist—because this owner had built a REAL relationship with his tool guy (not just the "got any leads?" variety), the tool guy gave her a heads up. Result? The owner got ahead of it. Invited the tech for a conversation. Countered the offer. The tech is young and frankly in my opinion needs to learn a lesson, so he decided to leave anyway but it was better that it wasn't totally out of the blue. That heads up gave the shop owner a bit more time to prepare so they weren't caught totally flat-footed. The lesson hit me like a torque wrench to the head: Stop treating tool guys as tech vending machines. ❌ Start treating them as your shop's early warning system. ✅ Think about it: - They're in EVERY bay - They hear EVERY conversation - They know who's happy, who's looking, who's checked out - They're neutral territory—techs trust them Your tool guy isn't your recruiter. They're your intelligence network. The strongest shops don't just buy tools from these folks. They build genuine relationships that create a protective moat around their talent. So here's my revised stance: - Asking tool guys for tech leads? Still not great. - Building real relationships with them? Absolutely golden. The difference? One is transactional. The other is transformational. What's your take? How has your relationship with tool dealers impacted your retention? Drop your thoughts below. 👇

Here are 3 proven ways to build unbreakable trust with your employees (that most shop owners completely miss): 1️⃣ Share the WHOLE Story - Your team can't trust you if you only share the wins. They need the real picture — including the challenges. Action step: In your next team meeting, openly share one challenge the shop is facing. Watch how transparency transforms trust. 2️⃣ Keep the Small Promises - It's not the big commitments that break trust — it's the small ones you miss. That oil filter you said you'd order? That schedule you promised to post? Action step: When you say "I'll send that over," do it within 24 hours. No exceptions. Small follow-through = massive trust. 3️⃣ Make Feedback a Daily Habit - High-trust teams give and receive feedback without fear. It's how they get better, faster. Action step: Add a 2-minute "Feedback + Shoutout" to your daily huddle. One improvement, one recognition. Every. Single. Day. The trust test: Would your team say they trust each other — and trust YOU? Drop a comment: Which of these will you implement first? 👇

Your best diagnostic tech is interviewing elsewhere right now. Not because you don't pay well. Not because your shop isn't successful. But because after 5 years of making you money, he still feels like "just another employee ID" – a number, not a member. Here's the brutal reality: While you're protecting your P&L like a state secret, shops down the street are revolutionizing how they treat technicians – not as employees, but as partners who deserve to know how the business really works. Your tech sees the invoice for $150/hour labor but takes home $35. Without context, he assumes you're pocketing the difference. Meanwhile, he's working in the dark, guessing at what matters, and eventually leaving for someone who treats him like a partner in serving your customers. The cost of this secrecy is destroying shops: - It takes 67,800 new techs annually just to replace those leaving the industry - The average shop loses $47,000 in productivity for each tech that quits - Tech turnover increased 23% last year alone (and it's accelerating) - Every good technician has 8 automotive businesses trying to hire them But here's what kills me... You're already sharing 27% of gross revenue with your techs through wages. Yet they have no idea if they're helping the business succeed or bleeding it dry. They work blind, waste money unknowingly, and leave feeling undervalued. The solution that's revolutionizing independent shops: Schmidt Auto Care in Ohio was hemorrhaging techs until they implemented Open-Book Management with a gain-sharing formula. Here's exactly what they did: 1. Financial Transparency Boot Camp: Taught every tech how gross profit, effective labor rate, and parts margin drive the business 2. Weekly Scoreboard Huddles: Published hours sold, comeback %, and margin data. Every tech forecasts their next week's production 3. Gain-Sharing Formula: Pays quarterly bonuses from 15% of EBIT above baseline (prevents over-distribution while rewarding performance) 4. Equity Participation: Created phantom stock vesting over 3-5 years for senior techs