If It Matters, Measure It: Why KPIs Drive Field Service Performance

“What gets measured gets done.”
“You can’t get what you don’t measure.”
“An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.”

And my personal favorite: If it matters, measure it.

As a field service organization grows, intuition and anecdotal evidence stop being enough. Owners want predictability. Customers want consistency. Stakeholders want proof. The only way to meet all three expectations is through quantifiable performance data—measured consistently and tied directly to business goals.

That’s where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in.

What Are KPIs?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are measurable values used to evaluate how effectively an organization is achieving its objectives. While KPIs vary by industry and company, field service organizations typically focus on metrics tied to:

• Customer satisfaction
• Technician productivity and performance
• Operational efficiency
• Revenue generation

KPIs are not about tracking everything. They are about tracking the right things—the measures that tell you whether the business is moving in the direction you intend.

Goals Drive KPIs (Not the Other Way Around)

The most common mistake organizations make is selecting KPIs before defining their goals.

Start with the question:
What are we trying to accomplish in the next quarter, six months, or year?

For example:

• If your goal is to improve technician performance, relevant KPIs may include:
  • Average response time (ART)
  • Mean time to repair (MTTR)
  • Jobs completed per technician
  • Revenue generated per technician

A practical rule of thumb is to focus on four to five KPIs per role or function. Beyond that, metrics begin to compete with one another, creating confusion rather than clarity.

KPIs Must Be Quantifiable

A KPI must be measurable—otherwise, it’s just an aspiration.

“Improve customer service” sounds good, but it’s not actionable without a number. By tying customer satisfaction to a numeric scale (for example, 1–5 or a Net Promoter Score), performance becomes visible, trackable, and comparable over time.

If success cannot be measured objectively, it cannot be managed effectively.

Compiling KPIs Without Drowning in Data

Data only has value if it can be consumed and acted upon.

Most field service managers do not have time to analyze spreadsheets filled with raw data. That’s why automated dashboards and reports are essential. Clear, visual summaries allow leaders to quickly assess performance and make informed decisions.

• Larger organizations often partner with IT teams to build customized dashboards
• Small and mid-sized organizations typically rely on field service management platforms with built-in reporting

When service operations are managed within a single system, it becomes easy to pull metrics such as:

• Open invoices
• Revenue by technician
• Job completion rates
• Customer satisfaction scores

The key is simplicity. If a KPI requires excessive effort to interpret, it won’t be used.

Gaining Employee Buy-In

None of this works without employee engagement.

KPIs must be transparent, relevant, and tied to incentives. When technicians understand how their performance is measured—and how it benefits them—they are far more likely to align with organizational goals.

Common incentive-based KPIs include:

• Upselling or cross-selling services
• Service contract renewals
• Jobs completed per week
• First-time fix rates

When performance data is stored within the same system used to manage daily work, leaders can quickly calculate incentives, bonuses, or recognition—reinforcing the behaviors the organization wants to encourage.

Measurement Creates Predictability

KPIs are not about micromanagement. They are about clarity.

They allow leaders to replace guesswork with evidence, react less emotionally to short-term fluctuations, and build predictable outcomes over time. When goals are clear, metrics are aligned, and results are visible, performance becomes repeatable.

And repeatable performance is what turns growth from hope into strategy.

So ask yourself:
If it truly matters to your business—are you measuring it?

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