KPI 1 — Average RO (ARO)
Total sales / number of ROs. Anything under $400 means you are leaving work on the table — likely a weak MPI or low parts margin.
Most shop dashboards drown owners in numbers. These are the 8 that decide whether the shop grows.
Tracking 40 metrics is the same as tracking none. Pick the 8 that drive decisions and review them weekly.
Total sales / number of ROs. Anything under $400 means you are leaving work on the table — likely a weak MPI or low parts margin.
Billed labor hours / RO count. Healthy: 1.8–2.6 hours. Under 1.5 = service writers are not selling recommended work.
Sold hours / recommended hours. Top quartile is 70%+. Under 50% = trust gap or weak digital MPI.
Billed hours / clocked hours per tech. 100% = breakeven on flat-rate. 110%+ = healthy. Under 90% = scheduling issue, not a tech issue.
Sales minus parts cost and tech wages, divided by sales. Healthy: 55–65%. Under 50% = pricing or productivity leak.
ROs returned for the same complaint within 30 days. Should be under 2%. Above 5% = QC process is broken.
Fresh reviews per month. 8–15 keeps Google rankings climbing.
Cash / weekly operating expense. Under 4 weeks = vulnerable. 8+ weeks = healthy.
Daily glance, weekly deep-dive, monthly with the team. Avoid quarterly-only — too slow to catch problems.