Dear Technicians,
I wanted to write a note directly to all of you. First off, I want to tell you how much I respect each and every one of you. I feel like you are constantly being misunderstood by the industry. I get the feeling that this causes a bunch of frustration — enough frustration that it’s driving many of you to think about leaving the industry. I’m not sure if it’s because of a lack of hope that things will change for the better or not, but it’s definitely something I’m concerned about.
For me, I started off as a technician (although not a very good one) and battled some of the very things you’re probably still frustrated about. Whether it’s the current state of the flat rate system, concerns over the amount of workload or the kind of work that you’re doing, or frustration with leadership — there are a number of ways we need to see the industry make improvements.
However, what we see is that even though many techs are frustrated at their jobs, they’re not actively looking for a new shop that might be a better fit. And who can blame them? There’s no good way to determine if a shop is worth applying to right now. Job board postings all look the same, and don’t provide enough information. Without first having a good picture of what it’s like to work at a shop, it’s not worth it to take the time to apply, take the day off to go to an interview… only to find out that the pay isn’t enough or they don’t offer the benefits you need to provide for your family.
With that in mind, we went to work on trying to make this better. We have launched a platform called WrenchWay that I think is going to be hugely beneficial for you. In short, it’s like Zillow for technicians. It’s a centralized platform where technicians can see what it’s like to work at different shops in their area – providing the information they need up front to decide if they want to apply. I’ll go into more detail about WrenchWay in other communication, but I think it’s important to tell you that we built this platform with you in mind. We genuinely want to make this industry a better place and more rewarding for you.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, there is a severe shortage of technicians, even as we are navigating the coronavirus pandemic. What does this mean to you? It means that you’re in a position to leverage your skills to get the most out of your career. The platform we’ve launched allows you to find not only a job that pays well, but a career with a place that has the same values as you. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re being paid competitively or if you’re wondering what it’s like to work at other shops, our platform was designed with you in mind to be able to evaluate opportunities that are out there for you.
As mentioned, we’ll follow this message up with more detail about what to look for in the platform itself, and I think you’re going to love it. Before we dive into any detail on the product itself, I wanted you to know why we did this and that this was built with you in mind. No sales pitch or plea to get you to use the platform, but we’d appreciate you taking a look at it to let us know if we’re on the right track.
As we get this thing launched, your feedback is going to be crucial to helping us make the industry a better place to work in. By understanding what it is that you want, we can better build content and coaching around how a shop should treat their techs. We work with shops every single day. We communicate what it is that we believe techs want, but we really need your voices as well.
As a company, we feel like we can have a big impact on this industry. An impact that is going to help you feel better about your career choice. We’re here to try and make the business a better place to be and look forward to working hand in hand with all of you to make it happen.
Regards,
Jay Goninen
