If there’s one thing that can illustrate the divide between what a company says is most important and what actually is, it’s how they measure success. When conducting research for our recent Stand Out Service Trends report, it was interesting to reflect on where businesses are still working to reconcile what service has become (a key differentiator and engine for growth: 37% stated that service is a significant source of revenue/profit for their businesses and 19% described service as their company’s primary growth engine) with the changes needed operationally to truly embrace its potential.

For instance, wanting peace of mind or guaranteed uptime/performance was second on the list of reported customer expectations, but only 26% of respondents are currently offering outcomes-based services (and 26% are offering reactive/transactional break-fix service only). Further, it seems that some organizations have yet to align KPIs to what service can mean to the business (a differentiator and growth engine).

We asked, “What are the core KPIs upon which your field technicians are measured?” Here are the anecdotal responses shared:

• First-time completes, 5-star service, and cycle times
• NPS, response time, same-day fix, PM completion, parts usage, inventory accuracy, customer retention
• First-time fix, response time, NPS, customer feedback
• No formal KPIs
• Utilization and first-time fix
• Utilization, return trip avoidance, and parts management
• First-time fix, response time, average order value, productivity
• Utilization/productivity
• Time to resolution, uptime, NPS, revenue/profit
• NPS, completion rate, productivity/efficiency, quality/FTC, and revenue creation
• CSAT, first-time fix, parts management
• NPS
• Productivity (return rate)
• Accessories attachment rate
• Utilization, return visits, technical accuracy
• Remote tool usage, CSAT
• Safety, NPS, timely completion of assigned workorders
• NPS, safety, quality
• Transactional customer surveys, periodic maintenance completion, site avoidance service completion
• Time to recover/install
• EPI, MTTS, MTBF, spare part consumption, MTTINT, on-time PM completion
• Customer NPS, contract performance, learning and development
• Maintenance completion rates, revenue per truck, and safety
• CSAT
• First-time-right, respect of appointment, value creation, efficiency
• Response time, resolution time, first-time fix rate, remote service rate, contractual fulfillment rate, spare parts availability

Now some of these responses indicate a well-balanced approach, assessing both operational and customer-centric KPIs. I can also understand those who opt to go all-in on NPS or CSAT metrics, with the thinking that as long as they are delivering there that’s what’s most important (which obviously has to be agreed from the top-down). But it’s those who are solely relying on metrics like productivity and utilization that I question, because for organizations looking to seize the full potential of service, these metrics won’t accurately reflect success (or failure).

This is of course just a short list, and we don’t have the context to know how each of these responses ties back to the broader company objectives (or not), but reading through this made me think long and hard about the discrepancy that may exist in organizations between how they’re measuring success and what they’re saying is important. Or what they may learn by expanding their metrics to take in another view.

How does your organization measure service success? Do you feel the KPIs are well-aligned to what it is the business is aiming to achieve? I’d love to hear from you.