“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it” were the famous words from Lord Kelvin. With over a decade in the HVAC industry, I can vouch for the truth in this statement.
As a trainer and a consultant for HVAC companies, I often come across use cases with companies struggling to improve service team performance and also the customer satisfaction levels. Credible research[1] suggests that the biggest concern for field service leaders ensuring that their field workforce is operating at optimal efficiency and productivity and that increasing field technician efficiency is number one on the list of their strategic initiatives. Meanwhile another study[2] indicates that as many as 32% of field service companies fail to attain even 80% of customer satisfaction.
This is a huge problem for companies looking to survive this era of business volatility and uncertainty.
Through this article, we would explore how your HVAC company can track service team performance to ensure customer satisfaction and optimal business growth. There are different measures which your HVAC company could use to track team service performance.
- First time Fix Rate- The first time fix rate reflects the percentage of time your on-field technician fixes a client issue at his first-time on the client's site. This is especially important because it directly translates to your customer satisfaction. Customers get frustrated when your on-field technician doesn’t have enough information to solve a problem the first-time or has to do multiple rounds to get the correct invoicing data. The easiest way to improve your first-time fix rate is by using FSM software application that gives your on-field technicians a holistic view of the issue to empower them to perform the job to the satisfaction of the customer.
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TAT (Turn-around time) or Average Resolution time- Since the first-time fix rates contribute to customer satisfaction, knowing your company’s Turn-around-time or the average resolution time can help you understand how your organization is running on a macro level. On a micro level, understanding how long it takes employees to complete certain tasks will allow you to see where the technicians are running into problems, and how that can be solved.
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· Number of jobs a team completes in a day / week- having knowledge of this matrix indicates how productive your employees are can show you where their skill strengths and weaknesses lie. It can also show you whether more training is required, new technicians are needed, or if you need to restructure your current team. Additionally, your HVAC company might also benefit from understanding how many upsells or cross-sells your technicians were able to achieve during the designated calls in a day or week.
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Net promoter Score (NPS)- The NPS is indicative of customer satisfaction, not just from the view of how well the field technician was able to assist with the query. Instead this would reflect the entire cycle from the customers perspective – from the time he logs a call to the time the job is completed and the customer shares feedback. This is important to track to understand the team service performance for your HVAC company as a higher satisfaction inevitably translates into loyalty and a higher retention rate.
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Percentage of Billable Hours - The percentage of billable hours is an important financial measure as well as a key indicator of productivity. Essentially, it is the percentage of time your technicians are doing work that is actually billable to a client. A good HVAC software application can provide time-tracking capabilities that help you focus on this KPI and iron out the accompanying issues.
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Loyal / repeat customers – Existing customers are worth more than new ones, as the revenue a company generates from loyal customers can sustain a business. Retaining clients means having ready-to-go word-of-mouth marketing that can help you acquire new customers. Similarly, if you provide great service and your technicians use their power to offer customers new products and services, you’ll be able to increase customer retention.
A research[3] by Field Technologies Online suggests that as many as 52% of service companies still do things manually- paper, pen and headaches. Are you one of them too ?
