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.

Use this proven checklist to create help wanted ads that grab attention, make your shop stand out and generate a consistent flow of applications on demand.

Our mission is to provide proven templates, strategies, training and top-level networking that help independent auto repair shops hire quality staff faster. ⚡ ⁣ 🙌 We are thrilled to have you here! 🙌 We don't want you to end up with a business that's unprofitable or stuck because you can't find good quality staff and it’s why we created this community.⁣ 💪 It’s time to get after it! 💪⁣ Over time, we will share with this community, everything we do on a day-to-day basis to generate 300 - 500 applications per week from high-quality technicians, service advisors, managers and every other staff position. These tools, strategies and techniques have allowed us on average to help over 100 shops per year to find good technicians and many other high-culture employees. We want to share everything we have learned and are currently implementing with you but more importantly, we want you to share what's working for you with the group! 🚀 [STEP 1] GETTING STARTED The best place to start is by downloading THE ULTIMATE TECHNICIAN AD CHECKLIST and following it each time you write a new ad for techs. You can find it here — https://www.skool.com/technician-find-8752/the-ultimate-technician-ad-checklist?p=b1f805e9 🚀 [STEP 2] PAY IT FORWARD There's 1 thing we ask of you since you’re new here to this community… Invite 3 fellow shop owners. That’s it. 👊 Send them this link to join our community 👉 https://www.skool.com/technician-find-8752?invite=75f4593ab2fe414e94bf8369b004efb4 This community is dedicated to taking the pain out of finding high-quality employees so you can build a high performance team and grow your business without limits… We share everything from: ✅ How to properly craft an irresistible help wanted ad that attracts high-quality employees

Have you ever noticed that not every application you receive is from a qualified technician? Sometimes I wonder if most of these jokers even read the ad! Getting unqualified applicants isn't really a problem if you know your numbers and you're asking for referrals the way I teach. When you ask for referrals on every call with a tech (qualified or unqualified), you will realize that one unqualified candidate can turn in to two highly-qualified candidates very quickly. I cover the right way to ask for referrals in this training: https://www.skool.com/technicianfind/classroom/b8c5e063?md=7d3b1ca35c1a45edb71c8f1b7d12bd6c In this post I just want to share the math on finding good techs. At Technician Find we've found that if our campaigns are running optimally, 1% of the people who land on the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) page should apply for the job. Anything north of 1% is gravy. This means that for every 100 people who land on your page to learn more about the technician job, one will apply. But what about the quality of the applications? Great question! Of those 100, a large portion didn't read the ad fully or they were feeling lucky that day and they aren't qualified for the position. On average we see approximately 25% of the applicants are qualified. This means that you need to generate 4 applications to get one solid candidate. So to sum up: on average, you will need 400 people to view your job page in order to generate 4 applications to receive one qualified candidate for your technician position. Hopefully now you see that there's no need to freak out when you aren't getting enough qualified candidates. All you need to do is get more people to see your ads. How do you get more people to see your ads? We'll cover that in another training.

Good morning! I wanted to see if anyone would mind sharing their skills survey that they use for technicians. The current skills survey I am using is severely outdated and doesn't do a great job of showing what level the technician is at. Thanks in advance!!

I get a TON of questions about how to find good techs on Facebook so I did a quick training on the topic in a recent Office Hours call. In this video I cover: 🔧 3 Categories of techs and how to find the first 2 on Facebook (the third isn't worth your time) 🔧 How to start conversations with higher quality techs on Facebook 🔧 How to find techs who aren't actively looking for work 🔧 How your help wanted ads can actually increase car count and paying customers when you post and promote them on Facebook You can catch the training right here in the Technician Find Community. Here's the link: https://www.skool.com/technicianfind/classroom/b8c5e063?md=c386178c84e94a90ad7c26cd7f168529

Everybody is talking about shop culture these days. What is it? How do you improve it? How do you communicate it to potential employees in a way that gets them excited about joining your team? I thought I'd share this quote from Donald Miller because it says it all. Read it... Digest it... Live it. Think about how you can apply it to your business so the next time you are interviewing a tech and they ask you why they should come work at your shop, you're not caught flat-footed.

If you've seen any of my trainings you know that I'm a big fan of Donald Miller's work. He has a way of breaking down complex business ideas into simple, actionable strategies and tactics. His latest book is called How to Grow Your Small Business: A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off and it is simply a game changer. If you've ever been confused about what you need to do next to grow your shop, grab a copy of this book and hold on! https://amzn.to/42wvFxE

From time to time, I get pushback from shops that are unaware of how social media marketing works and are afraid of ads being seen by the same folks over and over again. Here's the reply I sent today to an auto repair shop owner who had some concerns about his ads: 1. Only a small percentage of the technicians in your area will see your ads at any given time. Of course, some techs will see the ads multiple times (see #2 below for more on this) but we have clients who have had ads running continuously for months and still get applications. In fact, one of our first clients has had ads running continuously for his 4 shop locations for nearly 5 years and has had millions of views/impressions yet he still receives applications from new technicians every week. When you monitor your key performance indicators (KPI's) on a daily basis (like we do here at Technician Find), it's very obvious when there is a problem with the distribution of your ads and changes need to be made. 2. Timing is a major issue when marketing to techs. I have an extensive background in marketing and there is a theory formulated in the 1930's by the movie industry called the rule of 7. This marketing adage states that people need to see your ad at least 7 times before they will really notice it and take action. In the 1960's Dr. Jeffrey Lentz did more research in this idea and found that it may be even more impressions that are needed to produce a result. Very rarely does anyone take action after seeing an ad the first time. In today's world it is estimated that the average person living in a city sees 6,000 - 10,000 ads per day! That's a ton of noise and our brains have learned to tune out most of this unless it is immediately relevant and important. What I've found is that techs will see an ad and file it away in the back of their mind until it is relevant. For example, they may have seen your ad several times but it's that 7th or 12th impression that hits them right when they've had a bad day at the shop. If you are top of mind when this triggering event happens, that's when you get the application or the text message or the comment on social media that opens the door to a conversation about the grass being greener over at your shop.  3. Sometimes you may need a skilled headhunter. Here at Technician Find, we are not recruiters in the traditional sense of the term meaning we don't do drug testing or interviews and we don't do personality testing or personally match candidates to your specific job requirements. We are really, really good at grabbing the attention of techs and getting them to apply. If you are looking for a very specific person to fill a very specific role in your shop, it might be worth the added expense of hiring someone who is more hands on to help you find a good match.

Shout out to Haven Auto Repair for hiring a tech and building a deep bench of potential candidates to insulate them from any surprises in the future. When you have 115 applications, it gives you a tremendous sense of confidence in your ability to handle the future growth of your shop without worrying about staff! That's the way it's done, so glad we could help!

Shout out to @Lawrence Anderson over at Motoring Specialists for hiring an automotive technician!

Shout out to Poway Auto Repair for hiring another automotive technician for their shop!

Over time I am leaning on needing to find a younger tech that will listen and learn, but has a mechanical mind and has some experience - my shop, most likely just like all you guys, has advanced diagnostic and programming needed daily as well as you just have to think outside of the box to be successful , very rare to find a dealership tech who has all that, and a good attitude. I guess my 22 years in the business has taught me the best techs are made by our shop and we need to hope for a tech who knows some of what I need, but accept that we just may have to find a mechanic who will listen, train, and learn quickly how to become a technician. Found a young c tech with great attitude a few weeks back and so far he is growing, thx to ad on FB, looking for another replacement before May on one of my A techs, at least I have some time on this one - Chris send me the correct person, I have faith

Shout out to Gerry's Auto Service for hiring an automotive technician. Way to go @Bruce Weiss !

My new mechanic just moved in his tools. Chris, your help and insights really improved my recruiting and ad. I really got a lot out of your instructions and Office Hours presentations. Thank you! John - Big Dog Fleet Services

Shout out to @Barry Lindblom over at Meyers Automotive for hiring a service advisor! I hope she works out beautifully for years to come. Cool story how she saw the Facebook ad and came in directly without applying. Sometimes it happens this way.

Shout out to Mission City Motors for hiring a Service Advisor!

Have you ever wondered how two shop owners can go through the exact same training or coaching program and one runs with the information and achieves one record month after another while the other does nothing? On today's Office Hours call I discussed the importance of mindset and its role in business success and finding technicians in particular. One of the resources I referred to was this amazing YouTube video from Sam Ovens called Decoding the Billionaire Mind. Sam is a super successful business owner who built a $30 Million per year business and in the process, went in search of the secrets of what differentiates the way billionaires think compared to normal people. Sam took what he discovered and built a mental framework that will shed new light on why some owners can take ideas and run with them while others spin their wheels and get little or no traction regardless of effort. Let me know what you think about this. Enjoy! @Barry Lindblom @John Constantin @John Kelleher

Wayne's Garage, Springfield Oregon. Been pretty lucky, haven't had to hire a new tech for 6 years, but my time is running out. Two of my techs are approaching retirement, one at the end of this year, they've both been with us for over 25 years. Its never been fun finding a good one and I suspect it will be harder this time.

Congratulations to John Kelleher for taking control the leaderboard in February with his insightful contributions and generous feedback. John, I will DM you to get your address so I can send you a gift. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the Technician Find Community more valuable and useful to our members by posting. Here's how the top 8 finished up: 1️⃣ @John Kelleher 2️⃣ @Dan Vasquez 3️⃣ @Bill Surratt 4️⃣ @Tom Dietrich 5️⃣ @Craig Zale 6️⃣ @Jerry Gregory 7️⃣ @Wally Rauvala 8️⃣ @Kevin Burke

Congratulations to Haven Auto Repair for hiring a great tech!

Shout out to AutoGermany for hiring an Automotive Technician!

Shout out to @Angel McCabe over at K & M Truck Repair for hiring a Service Advisor!

I have emailed and texted. The responses are almost exclusively from my texts. I thought your comments on lowering friction were spot on too. I've sent candidates a skills survey which is very valuable to me to know what they can do - But I think that sometimes creates too much friction. I recently just did the survey at the beginning of the in person interview. I still got what I wanted but w/o the friction. #Boost technician ad response rates by 20%

Shout out to E.L.M. Repair & Refrigeration for hiring a Parts Associate!

Shout out to DeBoer's Auto for hiring a solid automotive technician!

Shout out to Mighty Auto Pro for finding a great automotive technician!

I've been asked a lot lately about the best interview questions for techs (you can skip to the list of questions below). Like everything else, successful interviews begin with the proper mindset. Here's the mindset: I was on a podcast recently where a shop owner said that hiring a tech is like a marriage because you spend more waking hours with them than your spouse. Here's the episode if you want to check it out: https://www.skool.com/technicianfind/classroom/84a30045?md=835fd4bbc73c4c4f9471942baa1ff20b So, in an interview you want to get a feel for the skill level AND the values / personal interests of a potential employee. Once you have a good feel for what the tech is capable of professionally and what they want to accomplish in their personal life, you can make a strong case for selling your shop as the perfect fit. The opposite is also true. If they have personal and professional goals that you can't help them achieve, its best to end the conversation right there to save you both time and trouble. This is the only way you can decide if they will be a good fit for your culture in advance of hiring them into your business. 🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧 Here's a great list of questions that I've compiled over the years that will help you get a feel for who this person is sitting in front of you or speaking to you on the phone: 1. Can you tell me a bit more about your experience as a technician? 2. What do you hope to accomplish in your next position? 3. At our shop, we commonly work on _____. Are you used to working on that type of equipment/vehicles? 4. We use a ___ version ___ for diagnostics. Have you worked with that before? What’s your step-by-step approach to identifying a knocking in the engine of 2019 Toyota Highlander (or name another type of car your shop sees a lot)? [listen for a confident, coherent answer which will indicate the skill of the technician.] 5. Can you tell me about a time when you worked really well with a coworker to accomplish a task? 6. Are you comfortable helping out the team, or are you looking to put your time in and make hours? 7. All of the applicants are equally qualified, why should I choose you over the other applicants? 8. What is the value of your tools (minus toolbox)? 9. What is the most challenging job you have ever completed? 10. What are the values you bring to our shop? 11. What’s going on that has you checking out new opportunities at the moment? Note: This is a softer way of asking, why are you looking for a new shop? Once you know what the main problem the tech is looking to solve stay on this and show how your shop is the solution, assuming that there’s a good fit. 12. What type of schedule are you looking for? 13. What are you looking for in a shop environment? 14. Are you looking to train more? If so, how often? Training is important to technicians. This is your chance to tie in how much your shop trains or how easy it is for technicians to take time off of work to train. 15. What’s the ideal environment that inspires and motivates you to perform at your best? 16. Other than pay, what aspect of the shop is going to influence you to accept or decline a position? 17. Do you currently receive performance bonuses? 18. What pay are you looking to make at your next shop? 19. What excites you? What’s cool in your life right now? 20. Let’s start a whole new future right now. What do you want your future to look like? 21. What was your previous employer like? 22. Spend time with them and talk about their life. What’s missing?

#Do this to FIND TECHS on Craiglsist Very helpful presentation. I'm going to try these strategies and keywords

The number one question I get from independent shop owners once we’ve cleaned up their help wanted ads for technicians is, “now where do I post it?” I’m so glad you asked! This Thursday, February 2nd, you’re going to learn all of the tricks and strategies for using Facebook like a pro to find techs. I’m going to show you the ins and outs of Facebook (there honestly aren’t all that many), including: · Why we use Facebook to find good techs (and you should too!) · The secret to getting good results with Facebook. · How to go “fishing” on Facebook for good techs who aren’t looking for work. · Facebook is going to take away the jobs tab this month (here’s how you need to post your jobs moving forward) · How to do “Passive Recruiting” on Facebook when you’re fully staffed to build a deep bench of candidates so when you’re in a pinch and need help, you have folks to call. · And more! You can find the link on the Community Calendar. See you there!

Congratulations to Dan Vasquez for bursting on the scene and racing to the top of the leaderboard in the last few days of January to take the top spot. Dan, I will DM you to get your address so I can send you a gift. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the Technician Find Community more valuable and useful to our members by posting. Here's how the top 7 finished up: 1️⃣ @Dan Vasquez 2️⃣ @John Kelleher 3️⃣ @Barry Lindblom 4️⃣ @Jason Neal 5️⃣ @Carlo Sabucco 6️⃣ @Brandon Anderson 7️⃣ @Tim Raw

Shout out to Potomac Creek Automotive for finding a rock star tech!