Once your field team is on a platform, numbers start piling up: visits, kilometres, punch-in times, orders, claims, ratings. A dashboard with 60 charts looks impressive and tells you very little. Managers need a short list of measures that show whether the field is working, and where to act.
This guide gives 12 KPIs, grouped into four areas: activity, quality, money and people. For each one you will see how to calculate it, why it matters, and what to be careful about. Not every KPI suits every team. Choose the ones that match your business, and start with five or six.
How to use KPIs without hurting your team
- Record a baseline first. You cannot say a number improved if you do not know where it started. Collect two to four weeks of data before setting targets.
- Use KPIs to coach, not only to judge. A low number is a question, not a verdict.
- Balance quantity and quality. Visits per day alone will push people to rush. Pair it with outcome and customer measures.
- Compare like with like. A rep in a dense city market and one covering rural villages cannot be ranked on the same visits target.
- Be careful with public leaderboards. They motivate some people and discourage others. Use them with context.
Activity KPIs
1. Visits or jobs completed per rep per day
Formula: completed visits (or jobs) divided by working days.
Why it matters: It is the simplest measure of field output. Changes show the effect of route planning, travel time and workload.
Watch out for: Rushed or fake visits. Count only visits with proof. See proof of visit software.
2. Plan adherence (planned versus actual visits)
Formula: visits completed as planned divided by visits planned.
Why it matters: Shows whether beat plans and schedules are realistic and followed. Low adherence can mean a poor plan, not poor effort.
Watch out for: Excusing misses without a reason code. Record why a visit was missed.
3. Travel time and distance per visit
Formula: total kilometres (or travel hours) divided by visits completed.
Why it matters: Travel is often the biggest hidden cost. A fall here usually means better routes. See route optimisation software.
Watch out for: Cutting distance by skipping hard-to-reach but valuable customers.
4. On-time punch-in rate
Formula: punch-ins within the allowed time divided by working days.
Why it matters: A reliable start of day sets the rhythm for visits. It is also an early sign of disengagement if it drifts. See GPS attendance with geofencing.
Watch out for: Flags from poor GPS or network. Check exceptions before acting.
Quality KPIs
5. Productive visit rate (strike rate)
Formula: visits with a useful outcome (an order, a collection, a completed job, an agreed follow-up) divided by total visits.
Why it matters: Separates activity from results. It is a common measure in FMCG, where it is often called productive calls.
Watch out for: Vague definitions. Write down exactly what counts as productive for each role.
6. SLA compliance rate
Formula: jobs responded to or resolved within the agreed time divided by total jobs.
Why it matters: The core promise to service customers. See SLA management software.
Watch out for: Clocks paused without reason, or jobs closed early to meet the target. Track reopen rates too.
7. First-time fix rate (service teams)
Formula: jobs resolved on the first visit divided by total jobs, within a fixed window such as 30 days.
Why it matters: Repeat visits cost money and patience. In its 2026 benchmark, Aquant, a field service software vendor, reported an industry average first-time fix rate of 77 percent, with top performers at 88 percent and bottom performers at 60 percent, based on nearly 30 million service events across 161 organisations. It is a vendor-published figure, so use it as a reference, not a promise.
Watch out for: Different time windows give different numbers. Fix one definition and keep to it.
8. Proof completion rate
Formula: visits with all required proof (check-in, photo, form, signature or OTP) divided by total visits.
Why it matters: Shows how much of your data you can trust. Low completion often means forms are too long or the app is hard to use. See mobile forms software.
Watch out for: Treating it as a punishment metric. Fix the process first.
Money KPIs
9. Collection efficiency and overdue ageing
Formula: amount collected divided by amount due in the period. Track overdue amounts in ageing buckets such as 0 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days.
Why it matters: Sales are not cash. This shows how much of what was sold has actually come in. See field collection management software.
Watch out for: Chasing small dues because they are easy. Prioritise by size and age.
10. Cost per visit and expense claim cycle time
Formula: field expenses (travel, fuel, allowances) divided by visits. Separately, average days from expense to reimbursement.
Why it matters: Shows what each visit costs, and whether claim processing is slowing your team down. See expense management software.
Watch out for: Cutting the expense budget so hard that reps stop visiting far customers.
People and customer KPIs
11. Customer satisfaction and NPS
Formula (NPS): percentage of promoters (scores 9 or 10) minus percentage of detractors (scores 0 to 6), from a 0 to 10 recommendation question.
Why it matters: Tells you how customers feel after the visit. Pair it with the visit rating for specific jobs. See customer feedback software for field teams.
Watch out for: Small samples, and comparing reps who handle different kinds of customers.
12. Absence, leave coverage and attrition
Formula: unplanned absence days divided by working days. Territory days uncovered because of leave. Voluntary exits divided by average headcount.
Why it matters: Field teams are hard to replace. A rising absence or exit rate usually signals a problem with targets, travel or management. See leave management software.
Watch out for: Treating leave as a problem. The goal is planned coverage.
Which KPIs for which role
| Team | Start with |
|---|---|
| FMCG and distribution sales | Plan adherence, productive visit rate, visits per day, collection efficiency |
| Pharma representatives | Plan adherence, call coverage, proof completion, on-time punch-in |
| Service and maintenance | SLA compliance, first-time fix rate, response time, customer rating |
| Logistics and delivery | Deliveries per rider, on-time rate, failed-delivery rate, cash reconciliation |
| Collections and recovery | Collection efficiency, ageing, visits per collection, deposit delay |
| Facility and security | Round completion, SLA compliance, attendance coverage |
Industry pages show sample workflows: FMCG, pharma, logistics, field service and facility management.
A simple example of KPIs working together
How to set up your KPI dashboard
- Choose five or six KPIs that match your business goals this quarter.
- Write definitions. What is a visit? What is productive? What is first-time fix?
- Capture clean data at source. This needs required fields, proof and short forms in the field app.
- Set baselines for two to four weeks.
- Review weekly with managers, and monthly with the team.
- Change KPIs as your business changes. Retire the ones that no longer lead to decisions.
What to ask a software vendor about KPIs
- Can I see these KPIs live, by rep, team, territory and period?
- Can I define what counts as productive or complete for my business?
- Does the data come from field activity, or must people type it in later?
- Can I export data or connect it with other tools?
- Are targets and leaderboards available, and can I control who sees them?
Compare how different tools handle reporting on our comparison pages.
Where FieldExecutives fits
FieldExecutives collects the data behind these KPIs as part of daily field work: GPS-verified attendance, visits with proof, SLA timers, expenses, collections, customer ratings and NPS and leave. Managers see real-time KPIs and leaderboards for every rep and team, and admins can set KPI targets. Because the data is captured in the field, nobody has to compile it in a spreadsheet at month-end. Look at the features, pricing or why teams switch. Related: how to track field team productivity fairly, how to manage a field sales team and what is field force management software.
Not sure which KPIs fit your team? Book a demo and we will help you pick five to start with.
