Satisfying customers when you’re operating away from the office is only possible if you’re attuned to the data that defines team performance in this context.
As such, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is key to effective field service management. So what metrics must be on your watch list, and why do they matter?
Efficiency KPIs
There are a number of field service management metrics which relate to the overall efficiency of your offsite operations, including:
Job completion time
Assessing how long it takes for employees to fulfill their duties in the field gives you a baseline for judging the execution of future jobs, while also allowing you to quantify improvements when you make changes to processes and practices.
Number of repeat visits
If you need to return to address the same issue that a customer is facing, this is imperfect from an efficiency perspective. Looking into why repeat visits are needed is useful for ironing out kinks in your service.
Customer satisfaction KPIs
The more subjective aspect of how satisfied customers are with the service you provide in the field has to be analyzed, and there are several KPIs worth looking into here, such as:
Retention rates
Retaining customers in the wake of visits from team members is a good sign that you’re doing the right thing by engaging customers directly. Conversely if retention rates drop, you will need to rethink how you approach customer service.
Recommendations
Getting feedback from customers by asking them how likely they’d be to recommend your services to others is a useful metric in gauging satisfaction swiftly. And if team members have a field service mobile app, they can enhance the customer experience and increase the likelihood of earning recommendations.
Business performance KPIs
It’s useful to look not only at field service management-specific KPIs, but also at wider metrics which define business performance over a given period. That way you will know how offsite interactions play a part in altering the trajectory of the organization as a whole, and these KPIs include:
Revenues
The amount of money coming into your business is definitely linked with how well you handle service provision in the field. If revenues are flagging, fixing field service management snafus is one possible solution.
Growth
If you’re acquiring new customers, making more sales and expanding the reach of your business, then things are looking up. Effective field service management is part and parcel of this, so complications with growth suggest it’s time to switch up what you’re doing with regards to your offsite tasks.
Service quality KPIs
Obviously every visit to a customer that’s required is an indicator of something going awry with the services you offer, so you need to be aware of the link by monitoring things like:
Uptime
Whether your services are provided directly by on-site hardware at the customer’s location, or remotely via a network connection, uptime is the main measure of quality and overall performance.
Tracking this is doubly important if you have a service level agreement in place which guarantees a minimum amount of uptime, because of course you’ll have to at least hit this target.
Failure rates
When equipment fails, repairs are needed, and you need to see how often this happens, and how long the gap between installation and failure is on average.
Final thoughts
We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s involved in field service management, but knowing that KPIs are at the core of dealing with this successfully is the first step to seeing improvements in your own operations, no matter the scale of your business.
