1Quotation conversion rate
Quotation conversion shows how effectively qualified opportunities become won work. Calculate accepted quotations divided by decided quotations, excluding those still open. If 24 quotations were accepted and 16 were lost, the conversion rate is 24 / 40 = 60%.
Why it matters: conversion helps assess sales quality, pricing, proposition and follow-up. Review it by sector, salesperson, quotation type and value. A high conversion rate is not automatically good if margins are too low, while a low rate may show poor qualification rather than poor selling. Pair conversion with contract value and expected margin. An Insights sales workspace can keep quotation measures together.
2Quotation turnaround time
Measure the time from completed survey to quotation sent. For example, five quotes taking 2, 3, 3, 5 and 7 working days have an average turnaround of 4 days. Also track the percentage sent within your service target.
Why it matters: slow responses lose momentum and create extra chasing. A rising turnaround time may indicate incomplete surveys, costing bottlenecks or unclear approval. Review weekly, and separate simple one-off work from complex recurring contracts so the comparison remains fair.
3Attendance completion rate
Calculate completed shifts divided by planned shifts. If 1,176 of 1,200 planned shifts were completed, attendance completion is 98%. Track missed shifts, late starts and early finishes separately because a headline percentage can hide repeated problems at one site.
Why it matters: attendance is the foundation of delivery. Quality cannot be maintained if planned work is regularly uncovered. Daily exception monitoring lets managers arrange cover before the customer experiences a failure. Compare trends by site, day, branch and work pattern rather than using the figure only as a staff score.
4Delivered hours against budget
Compare actual approved hours with the hours allowed in the contract or schedule. A contract budgeted for 400 hours but using 420 has a 5% adverse hours variance: (420 - 400) / 400. The cause might be authorised additional work, cover overlap, poor scheduling, rework or an unrealistic original estimate.
Why it matters: labour is usually the largest cleaning cost. Small repeated variances can remove margin without creating an obvious operational crisis. Review exceptions weekly and the full trend monthly. Never reduce hours solely to improve this KPI without checking quality and contractual requirements.
5Labour cost percentage
Labour cost percentage is total direct labour cost divided by contract revenue. If wages, employer costs and paid leave allocation total £8,100 against £12,000 monthly revenue, labour cost is 67.5%. Define what is included and use the same basis every month.
Why it matters: hours can be on budget while labour cost rises because of overtime, pay-rate changes or expensive cover. This KPI connects workforce decisions to commercial performance. Compare actual percentage with the quotation model and investigate material movement rather than treating one universal percentage as correct for every contract.
6Cleaning audit score
Audit score gives a structured measure of service quality across tasks, areas or zones. Review average score, but also show the lowest-scoring sites and repeated failures. A company average of 94% can still hide a washroom task failing repeatedly at one large customer.
Why it matters: audits provide evidence before issues become complaints. They also support coaching and customer reviews. Keep scoring rules consistent and use notes or photographs where evidence is useful. Compare like with like: a detailed task audit and a short supervisory inspection should not be treated as identical.
7Audit completion rate
Calculate completed audits divided by scheduled audits. If 45 of 50 planned audits were submitted on time, completion is 90%. Late audits should be visible rather than counted as if the quality plan was followed correctly.
Why it matters: an excellent scoring system has little value when inspections are missed. Low completion may point to supervisor capacity, poor scheduling or unclear responsibility. Review weekly for overdue work and monthly for trends. Use the result alongside audit scores, because perfect completion of weak inspections is not meaningful assurance.
8Corrective action closure rate
Measure actions closed by their due date divided by actions due. If 32 actions were due and 28 closed on time, the rate is 87.5%. Also show overdue high-priority actions and average days to closure.
Why it matters: recording a failure is not the same as resolving it. This KPI shows whether quality management closes the loop. Repeated extensions, missing evidence or the same issue returning after closure are warning signs. A lower number with honest evidence is more useful than closing actions administratively to protect the score.
9Complaint rate and resolution time
Count complaints in context, for example per 100 completed visits or per £100,000 of contract revenue, then measure the time from report to agreed resolution. If 8 complaints occur across 2,000 visits, the rate is 0.4 per 100 visits.
Why it matters: complaint volume shows customer friction, while resolution time shows responsiveness. Low complaints do not always mean high satisfaction; customers may stop reporting before leaving. Review complaint themes, recurrence and sentiment alongside audit and customer-review information.
10Rework and supervisor rescue hours
Record paid time spent correcting missed or failed work outside the planned specification. Include supervisor time when they repeatedly clean rather than manage. If a site uses 18 rework hours against 400 planned hours, rework equals 4.5% of planned delivery.
Why it matters: rework is a hidden cost of poor quality, weak training, absence or unrealistic task allocation. It can protect the customer relationship short term while damaging margin and supervisor capacity. Tracking it makes the true cost visible and helps identify where a root-cause review is needed.
11Staff absence and retention
Absence rate can be calculated as absent scheduled hours divided by total scheduled hours. Staff retention is the percentage of employees who remain over a defined period. Separate voluntary leavers, dismissals and TUPE-related movement so the number can be interpreted correctly.
Why it matters: unstable teams increase recruitment, induction, cover and management costs. Trends often reveal difficult sites, unsuitable work patterns or weak onboarding. These are management signals, not reasons to penalise legitimate sickness. Use them with return-to-work processes, employee feedback and contract context.
12Contract retention and customer health
Contract retention is renewed or retained contracts divided by contracts eligible for renewal, preferably measured by both count and annual value. A business retaining 18 of 20 contracts has 90% retention by count, but losing its largest account could make value retention much lower.
Why it matters: retention protects recurring revenue and reduces the pressure on sales. Add a customer-health view combining open complaints, audit trend, overdue actions, meeting sentiment and renewal date. This creates an earlier signal than waiting for a cancellation notice.
13Contract gross margin
Gross margin is contract revenue minus direct contract costs, divided by revenue. If monthly revenue is £15,000 and direct labour, materials and allocated service costs are £12,300, gross margin is £2,700 or 18%.
Why it matters: growth without margin can weaken cash flow and management capacity. Review margin by contract, customer, branch and service type. Investigate differences between quoted and actual performance. Margin should never be viewed alone: reducing required hours or materials may improve the figure temporarily while damaging quality and retention.
