About this episode

Hunt Demarest and Chris Lawson discuss the hidden costs of empty bays in shops and the importance of effective recruiting strategies.

Thanks to our partners Promotive and Wicked File What if that empty bay in your shop is costing you $175,000 a year? What happens when your best technician walks in on Friday afternoon and says they're not coming back Monday? In this episode, Hunt Demarest welcomes back Chris Lawson from Technician Find — the first returning guest on Business by the Numbers. Chris tackles the question shop owners struggle with most: Can you really afford to invest in recruiting when money is tight? Drawing on real shop data, Hunt and Chris break down the hidden cost of empty bays ($175,000 per year in lost gross profit for the average shop) and why treating recruiting as an optional expense is costing shops far more than any recruiting service ever could. Chris explains why recruiting is fundamentally different from advertising — you're not looking for people actively searching for jobs, you're reaching employed technicians who need a compelling reason to take the risk of leaving where they are. This requires completely different messaging, targeting strategies, and an understanding that ChatGPT-written ads on Indeed all look identical because they're copying each other. The conversation covers…

People in this episode

Host: Hunt Demarest

Guest: Chris Lawson

Topics covered

• recruiting
• business costs
• shop management
• employee retention
• compensation strategy

Keywords

• recruiting
• empty bay cost
• gross profit
• technician hiring
• compensation strategy

Sponsors

Promotive, Wicked File

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Technician Find

More episodes of Business By The Numbers

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• The Hidden Volatility Killing Auto Repair Shop Profits: The 3 Category Framework That Fixes It [E218] · April 16, 2026 · 24 min
• AI, Agents and the Death of Mundane Work: Tekmetric's COO on the Future of Shop Software [E217] · April 9, 2026 · 43 min
• Stop Spray and Pray: The Marketing System Helping Auto Shops Fill Bays in 2026 [E216] · April 2, 2026 · 44 min
• Discover the Shocking Hidden Price Tag on Every Comeback Job (It's Not What You Think) [E215] · March 26, 2026 · 26 min

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