Importance of KPIs

Posted 10/1/2008
By Karin White

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" said Alice.
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where," said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
- From "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll

Watch for future announcements about a new ASA benefit scheduled to launch in early November. It will place KPI data at your fingertips, including average RO dollars, top 10 repair jobs, average parts sales and the most frequently serviced vehicles.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) count. They are the cornerstone of understanding your business. Numbers from your shop, or the shops in your region and state, and comparisons with the national averages, let you see in an instant where you stand and whether you are beating or bucking the trend. This knowledge helps you target your business toward those jobs that produce the most value. KPIs presented by geographic region, or year/make/model (YMM), or by month-to-month comparisons let you gauge your performance against the competition, and can give you the competitive edge over shops not watching KPIs.

Shop owners are absolutely certain where they want to get to - they want to increase shop volume, increase sales, maximize profit and serve the motoring public as effectively as they can. A clear understanding of shop metrics and automotive industry baseline numbers serves as the foundation for creating the road map that can increase shop performance

ASA will be announcing the important new benefit at the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) during the first Automotive Service and Repair Week (ASRW) Nov. 5-8 in Las Vegas.

Stat Corner is written by Karin White, ASA's research and project specialist. She can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 252, or by e-mail at karinw@asashop.org.