9 KPIs to add to your field service dashboard

A field service dashboard can be a tremendously useful tool for tracking your business performance and making pivotal changes that affect the longevity of your organisation.

But before we delve into the nitty gritty of what key performance indicators (KPIs) you should track, first, a quick primer: What is a field service dashboard?

A field service dashboard is a data visualisation tool that helps companies understand and track the real-time performance of a variety of KPIs relevant to their business. Measurements like: how long it takes to fix issues, average travel time for technicians, customer retention, and more.

The data collected over time enables you to evaluate your workflow and strategies so that you can make important decisions for the betterment of the company as a whole. 

Here, we’ll detail the nine best KPIs to add to your field service dashboard.

How to set up a field service dashboard

When setting up a field service dashboard, you can customise it to fit the unique needs of your business but, generally, you’ll want to include metrics like service efficiency, customer satisfaction, and business performance.

Field service dashboards are typically accessed through mobile apps, web browsers, or other existing systems and can pull data in from a variety of sources. Dashboards store all your information in one place and make it accessible to those who need it, such as operations, sales, and managers.

Field service management platforms like ServiceMax offer built-in dashboard tools, and many similar platforms also allow for the integration of third-party data. There are industry-agnostic business intelligence tools, too, which you can tweak to focus on the details important to your business’ success. 

There are also standalone third-party tools like Localz’ Manage My Workforce, which lets you personalise your experience and can be layered on top of your existing tech stack.

One of the best aspects of a field service dashboard is that it allows you to learn as you go: Start with the KPIs you feel are relevant to your organisation and, over time, you can add, delete, and adjust metrics as needed.

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KPIs for your field service dashboard

There are many KPIs you can measure, but we suggest adding these nine key ones to your field service dashboard.

• Revenue per lead. Divide your sales volume by the number of leads; that’s your revenue per lead. Monitoring this metric provides insight into how effective your sales team is and whether your lead generation strategies are working. 
  
  
• First time fix rate (FTFR). This measurement shows how often field service technicians are resolving problems the first time they visit a site. You’ll be able to better assign the right technicians for a job and see if you’re providing them the right tools. 
  
  
• Repeat visits. See how many times your tech is returning to a job to finalise service. A high repeat visit rate means it’s time to examine who’s handling which tasks, and whether technicians need more training or access to different tools/inventory. 
  
  
• Mean time to repair (MTTR). How long does it take to fix issues? MTTR is a look into the efficiency of the whole system — from when an issue arises to when it’s resolved. If you see an increase in MTTR, you should diagnose exactly where the issue lies in the chain of service.
  
  
• Average travel time. Track this metric to discover if a better routing tool is needed so technicians can get to jobs faster. If your tech is often stuck in traffic, it might be time to review transportation methods and optimise geolocation. 
  
  
• Utilisation for billable hours. View how much time your techs spend on billable tasks. Compare productive time (e.g., providing service and upselling clients) with idle time (e.g., missed appointments, traffic, office paperwork) to determine where improvements to their workflow can be made. 
  
  
• Customer retention. It costs more to find new customers than keep existing ones. Tracking retention helps identify what percentage of clients remain with you long-term, as well as unearths opportunities for improvement.
  
  
• Customer satisfaction. Use automated, real-time customer feedback tools after service appointments to get actionable feedback from clients.
  
  
• No access calls. How many no-access appointments occur? Optimise the experience for both the customer and the technician with real-time tracking technology.
  
  

Conclusion

There are many field service KPIs that can offer insight into your business performance. Use your field service dashboard to learn which metrics are crucial to your organisation, then continue refining them over time to move your business forward.