Track the Right Numbers, Not All of Them
A leak detection business needs the owner to know: are enough leads coming in? Where are they coming from? Are calls being answered? Are jobs being booked and priced correctly? Are technicians producing quality work? Are reports going out quickly? Are callbacks increasing? Are customers leaving reviews? Are referral sources growing? Those questions are what the numbers should answer.
Core Monthly KPI List
| KPI | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Total leads | Overall demand volume for the period |
| Lead source breakdown | Which channels are producing calls worth booking |
| Missed calls | Demand being lost before the company can respond |
| Speed to lead | How quickly the company responds to inbound inquiries |
| Booking rate | Percentage of leads that convert to scheduled jobs |
| Close rate (on-site) | Jobs where work is completed vs. not started |
| Average ticket | Whether pricing is supporting the time, tools, and skill involved |
| Revenue by service type | Which services drive the most revenue |
| Jobs completed | Total field output for the month |
| Technician jobs per day | Individual field productivity |
| Report turnaround time | How quickly reports reach the customer after the job |
| Callback rate | Jobs that required a return visit due to unresolved findings |
| Confirmed leak rate | Percentage of jobs with a confirmed leak finding |
| No-leak-found rate | Percentage of jobs where no leak was confirmed |
| Customer review count | Volume of new reviews in the period |
| Review rating | Average star rating across all platforms |
| Referral source | Which partners and channels send work |
| Builder referrals | Repeat work from builder relationships |
| Pool service company referrals | Repeat work from service company partners |
| Property manager referrals | Repeat work from commercial property contacts |
Why Each Group of Numbers Matters
Lead Source
Not all leads are equal. A builder referral behaves differently from a Google search. A pool service company referral may convert more easily than a price-shopping homeowner. Tracking source separately shows which channels produce the best work -- not just the most volume.
Missed Calls and Speed to Lead
Leak calls often come from worried customers. If the company is slow to respond, another company may get the job. Missed calls are demand that was paid for through marketing and reputation and then lost before the conversation started.
Average Ticket
A low average ticket can make the company look busy while the owner earns very little. The ticket needs to support the time on site, travel, tools, report preparation, follow-up, and the skill involved in the diagnosis.
Report Turnaround Time
A leak detection job is not complete when the technician leaves. The report matters. Slow reports frustrate customers, delay repairs, weaken builder relationships, and signal that the company is disorganized.
Callback Rate
Callbacks can show training gaps, poor communication, missed documentation, weak testing, customer expectation problems, or actual secondary leaks. A callback is not always failure -- but a pattern of callbacks needs investigation and response.
No-Leak-Found Rate
A no-leak-found result is not automatically a failure. It can be a legitimate and well-supported outcome. The real question is whether the technician can explain the result clearly with documented evidence. A no-leak-found rate that is unusually high may suggest training issues or unrealistic customer expectations.
KPIs Should Track Process, Not Just Money
The H.U.N.T.E.R. Method turns quality into something the owner can measure. KPIs should reflect whether the process is being followed -- not just whether revenue came in.
Was the customer history collected? Missing history leads to missed leaks and callbacks.
Was the system mapped? Unmapped systems produce test results that cannot be interpreted correctly.
Was the suspect area narrowed before testing? Random testing wastes time and confuses findings.
Were the right tests done? Test method and documentation belong in the KPI review.
Were findings documented with photos? Report completeness is a measurable quality metric.
Was the recommendation clear? Report turnaround time and customer satisfaction both reflect this.
The numbers I care about most are not the glamorous ones. Missed calls. Report speed. Callbacks. Those three tell me more about a company's health than the revenue number does.
My standard at Leak and Subsurface Locators is two paying jobs per day minimum for a trained technician. That number only works if the jobs are efficient -- which only happens when the process is clean and the report does not sit in a queue for three days after the job.
The no-leak-found rate is one that confuses a lot of owners. They think a high rate means something is wrong. But a well-documented no-leak-found outcome is a legitimate service result. The question is not whether the number is high or low. The question is whether the technician can support the result with evidence. If they can, it is a good outcome. If they cannot, that is a training problem.
Beginner vs. Advanced
Start With These
- Total leads and lead source
- Booked jobs and revenue
- Average ticket
- Report turnaround time
- Callback rate
- Customer reviews
Add These Later
- Technician revenue per day
- Confirmed and no-leak-found rates by technician
- Commercial vs. residential revenue split
- Referral quality by source
- Accounts receivable for commercial clients
- Training progress metrics
Common KPI Mistakes
- Only tracking revenue and ignoring everything else
- Tracking so many numbers that none get reviewed
- Ignoring missed calls -- demand that was already lost
- Ignoring report turnaround time
- Treating no-leak-found as automatic failure
- Comparing technicians without accounting for job difficulty
- Chasing sales volume while margins quietly fall
- Not reviewing KPIs on a consistent monthly schedule
- Ignoring lead source quality -- not all leads are equal
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important KPI for a new company?
Lead source. Knowing where calls come from tells you which activity to invest in and which channels to protect. Everything else -- booking rate, average ticket, callback rate -- is easier to improve once the right leads are consistently flowing.
Is a high no-leak-found rate a problem?
Not automatically. A well-supported no-leak-found result is a legitimate service outcome. The owner should review whether those results are documented with evidence -- photos, test results, area inspected, areas not tested -- rather than treating a high rate as failure by default.
How often should KPIs be reviewed?
Monthly at minimum. Weekly for fast-moving metrics like missed calls and report turnaround time. The purpose of tracking KPIs is to spot problems early -- which requires consistent review, not just annual reporting.
Should technician KPIs be shared with the technician?
Generally yes -- with context. A technician who knows their callback rate and report turnaround time can take ownership of improving both. Sharing without context -- like comparing a new technician to a five-year veteran -- can be demoralizing and counterproductive.
Build a Business You Can Actually Measure
The H.U.N.T.E.R. Method creates the documented process that makes quality measurable -- from photo standards to report turnaround to technician judgment.
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