The Key to Growth: Tracking Business Performance Metrics

By Jordan Evans

 

Read it to me! Click the video below.

 

 

Running a service area business is a balancing act—juggling appointments, customer service, employee schedules, and marketing. Yet, one critical piece often slips through the cracks: tracking performance metrics. Without it, even the most skilled business owner is flying blind, relying on gut feeling rather than hard data. Let's dig into why tracking key metrics matters and how it can transform a small business into a growth powerhouse.

The Hidden Problem: Lack of Data-Driven Decisions

Take Mike, an HVAC contractor with a small team. Let's say Mike has been in business for five years and feels confident about the work he does. But when it comes to growth, things have plateaued. His instinct tells him that he should hire more technicians, but his budget is tight, and he's not sure if the demand is really there. Without tracking performance metrics, he's making a big decision based on guesswork, which could be risky.

Mike’s situation isn’t unique. Many small service area businesses fall into this trap of relying on intuition over data. Here's the thing: you can't manage what you don't measure. Skipping this crucial step can lead to wasted money, missed opportunities, and stagnation.

Small Missteps with Big Consequences

Now, picture the domino effect when performance metrics aren’t tracked. For instance, if you're not measuring lead sources, you might continue pouring money into advertising channels that aren't delivering quality leads. Or, if you’re not keeping an eye on job completion times, it could result in scheduling inefficiencies that frustrate customers and overwork your team.

A small plumbing business, for example, may not realize that the majority of their jobs are coming from repeat customers because they don’t track customer retention rates. As a result, they keep investing in expensive ads, neglecting the potential goldmine of database reactivation.

The impact of overlooking these metrics can be massive:

• Overspending on ineffective marketing
• Underestimating employee performance or overestimating your team's capacity
• Missing out on opportunities to upsell services to loyal customers
• Lower customer satisfaction due to inefficient scheduling or long wait times

Let’s go back to Mike. If he tracked metrics such as lead source quality, job completion time, and customer retention, he could make data-driven decisions that boost his revenue and improve his team’s efficiency.

The Solution: Track What Matters

The good news? Tracking business metrics is easier than ever, thanks to modern CRMs, scheduling tools, and even simple spreadsheets. Here’s a step-by-step guide to start tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that can drive your business growth:

1. Revenue by Service Type

Track how much money each service or job type brings in. For example, are AC repairs more profitable than HVAC installations? Once you know this, you can adjust your marketing spend accordingly and focus on promoting the most profitable services.

2. Lead Source

Understand where your leads come from—Google Ads, Local Service Ads, referrals, or SEO. Tracking lead sources helps you optimize your marketing budget, investing more in what works and less in what doesn’t.

3. Customer Retention Rate

Are customers coming back? Repeat customers are more cost-effective to market to, and keeping track of your retention rate can help you understand how well you’re doing in maintaining relationships with past clients.

4. Job Completion Time

How long does it take your team to complete jobs? Slow turnaround times can mean inefficiency, and customers may get frustrated. By tracking job times, you can better schedule staff and reduce operational bottlenecks.

5. Cost Per Lead

How much does each lead cost you? Knowing your Cost Per Lead (CPL) lets you evaluate whether your marketing investments are paying off or need adjustment.

6. Customer Satisfaction

Collect feedback regularly. Happy customers mean repeat business and referrals. Use post-job surveys, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), or just good old-fashioned follow-up calls to gauge customer satisfaction.

7. Employee Utilization

Are your employees working at full capacity? If not, you might be able to take on more jobs or shift workloads. Underworked employees can drain your budget without contributing to the bottom line.

Tools to Track What Matters

The good news? Tracking business metrics is easier than ever, thanks to modern CRMs, scheduling tools, automated reporting systems, and even simple spreadsheets. Below are some tools and technologies to help you start tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that can drive your business growth:

1. Revenue by Service Type

   • QuickBooks or Xero: Track revenue streams and generate financial reports to see which service lines are bringing in the most money.
   • ServiceTitan: Allows you to break down revenue by job type, making it easier to assess profitability.
   • Google Sheets: For smaller operations, you can manually track revenue by service type to start identifying trends.

2. Lead Source

   • Google Analytics: Track where your website traffic comes from—SEO, paid ads, social media, or referrals.
   • CallRail: Analyze phone call leads and track where each call originates (Google Ads, Local Service Ads, referrals).
   • HubSpot: A CRM tool that tracks which lead generation strategies are working and integrates with Google Ads and Facebook to measure ROI.

3. Customer Retention Rate

   • Jobber or Housecall Pro: Both of these tools track repeat customers and help you manage client relationships with features like automated follow-ups and reminders.
   • Mailchimp: Set up email nurturing campaigns for existing customers to help improve retention through targeted marketing efforts.

4. Job Completion Time

   • Toggl: A time-tracking app that allows your team to log hours spent on each job, helping you measure job completion time.
   • Clockify: Another time-tracking app that offers reports on how long specific tasks and jobs take, which helps you optimize scheduling.
   • ServiceFusion: Includes GPS tracking for technicians, so you can analyze job completion times and route efficiency.

5. Cost Per Lead

   • Google Ads Dashboard: Provides detailed cost-per-click (CPC) data and allows you to calculate cost per lead based on ad spend.
   • Facebook Ads Manager: Track CPL for social media campaigns, giving insights into which ads generate the most cost-effective leads.

6. Customer Satisfaction

   • SurveyMonkey or Typeform: Easily create customer satisfaction surveys to measure how happy your clients are with your service.
   • Net Promoter Score (NPS) tools: Tools like Delighted or AskNicely help you collect NPS data, so you can track customer loyalty and identify areas for improvement.

7. Employee Utilization

   • ClockShark: Time-tracking software specifically designed for field service businesses. It helps measure employee efficiency and identify opportunities for better job scheduling.
   • TSheets (now QuickBooks Time): Tracks employee hours and integrates with accounting software to monitor productivity and efficiency across jobs.

Next Steps

Ready to take control of your business’s growth? Start by choosing one or two metrics to track and work your way up. Need help getting set up with a CRM or understanding which metrics matter most for your specific business? Reach out to 99 Calls for guidance on how to build a data-driven growth plan tailored to your needs.

Take control of your business metrics today, and the results will speak for themselves.