How to Manage Mobile Repair Technicians
Counter turnover hides the real picture. Here's how to assign jobs fairly, and the number most shops never check — profit per technician, not just repairs closed.
Assigning Jobs Fairly
Most shops split by specialization first — a display replacement and a motherboard repair aren't the same skill — then queue within that. Assigning purely by "whoever's free" hands complex boards to technicians who aren't ready for them, and that shows up later as repeat repairs.
Beyond Job Count
Five numbers worth tracking per technician
Jobs closed
The raw count — useful, but only half the picture on its own.
Revenue generated
What the technician's jobs billed in total, before costs.
Parts cost against that revenue
What was actually spent to deliver those repairs.
Profit and margin
Revenue minus parts cost — the number that should drive commission, not raw revenue.
Average value per job
Catches a technician quietly taking only small, easy jobs from the queue.
The Mistake: Commission on Revenue, Not Profit
Paying commission on what a job billed — without deducting the parts cost — rewards a technician for using the most expensive part available, not the most sensible one. A busy bench running at a loss can look identical to a profitable one on the daily collection sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should technicians be paid commission on revenue or on profit?
Profit — revenue minus the parts cost for that job. Paying commission on raw revenue rewards a technician for using the most expensive part available, not the most sensible one, and it hides which jobs are actually worth taking.
How should repair jobs be assigned — by queue order or by specialization?
Both, in practice. A display replacement and a motherboard repair aren't the same skill, so most shops split by specialization first, then queue within that. Assigning purely by 'whoever's free' sends complex boards to technicians who aren't ready for them.
What's a fair way to measure technician performance beyond job count?
Jobs closed, revenue generated, parts cost against that revenue, and average value per job. A technician closing lots of small jobs and one closing fewer high-value repairs can both be doing well — job count alone doesn't show that.
How do I know if a technician is quietly avoiding harder repairs?
Average job value is the tell. If one technician's average is consistently far below the shop's, they may be cherry-picking easy jobs from the queue — worth a direct conversation rather than a guess.
Read next
See technician workload and profit tracking on Kiwikit Mobile Repair Software, or go back to the full shop management overview.
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Jobs, revenue, parts cost, profit and margin per technician — visible without reconciling paper first.