Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are of vital importance in field service management. Organisations must be able to effectively track and measure their KPIs over time to make continual improvements to their operations, and ultimately, achieve long-term success in the market.
What Are KPIs?
A Key Performance Indicator is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs at multiple levels to evaluate their success at reaching targets.
3 Essential KPIs in Field Service Management
Business Process KPIs
Business process KPIs mainly relate to the efficiency of a business’ daily operations. In the field service industry, some of the most important business process KPIs include:
Order fulfilment cycle time (OFCT)
The OFCT is the length of time it takes to fulfil an order; from the moment an order is placed to the completion of the project.
Travel time and distance
It is important to measure the length of time your workers spend travelling to jobs and the distance they travel. Reducing the time and distance travelled by each worker will enable you to boost productivity and lower fuel costs.
Time to schedule
Time to schedule is a KPI which can be measured by calculating the length of time it takes between an order being placed and the delivery being scheduled. Taking too long to schedule jobs can cause customers to become quickly disgruntled.
Employee absence rate
Employees failing to turn up to work is never a good thing. Not only can absenteeism negatively impact the delivery of your service, but it could also indicate the level of job satisfaction amongst your workforce.
Service Delivery KPIs
Delivering a high-quality service to your customers should be at the forefront of your goals as a business. In our opinion, there are 2 essential KPIs relating to service delivery, namely:
Delivery in full, on time (DIFOT)
The DIFOT KPI involves measuring the percentage of jobs which your business delivers within the timeframes you agreed with your customers. A low DIFOT percentage could indicate that your operations are inefficient, or that your agreed timeframes are overly optimistic.
Productivity ratio
This KPI measures the amount of time your field staff spend doing productive tasks. Understanding this metric will allow you to see where time is being wasted, and which activities are preventing your field staff from actually “doing their jobs.”
Customer Service KPIs
Our final essential KPIs are associated with customer services, including:
Average customer ratings
Customer ratings should be tracked in all businesses, no matter what industry you operate within. They are most commonly tracked by asking customers to complete online reviews and feedback forms. Ratings will help you to understand the quality of your service and can highlight areas in which your business can improve.
Customer retention rate
What percentage of your customers return to you in the future after purchasing your service? Obviously, if customers aren’t coming back then there may be a problem with your service. Gaining feedback to understand this metric in greater detail is always the best course of action.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. We hope you now have a better understanding of the essential KPIs in field service management. If you have any questions regarding any of the topics we discussed, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. A member of our friendly team will always be happy to help.
