Your Best Asset Is Walking Out the Door:

I want to tell you about a dealer I worked with in the Southwest—a solid operation, eight years in business, good reputation in his market. He called me in late August, and I could tell from the first thirty seconds something had gone wrong. “George, my lead tech just gave two weeks’ notice. He’s going to the dealership across town. I’m not even sure what to do first.”

What followed was one of the more painful conversations I have had in this business. Because the answer to “what do I do first” when a key technician leaves is: you deal with the fallout. The schedule you just built falls apart. The diagnostic work that only he knew how to handle goes into a holding queue. Customers who expected their units back by Friday get a phone call they’re not happy about. And you start doing the math on what this is actually going to cost you—not just in recruiting fees and training hours, but in the billable hours that simply don’t happen while the position sits open.

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