The multi-visit rate is the share of jobs over the last 90 days that needed more than one appointment.
It depends entirely on the work
For installs and multi-day projects, a high rate is expected and means nothing is wrong. A system replacement was never going to be one visit.
For service and repair work, a high rate is one of the more expensive problems a service business can have, and one of the least visible.
Why a second visit costs more than it looks
The revenue for the job was set at the first visit. The second one adds drive time, labour and a slot that could have held another job, and adds nothing to the invoice.
A job needing two visits does not have half the margin. It usually has none, and sometimes less than none once the displaced work is counted — see job margin.
What causes it, in order of frequency
The part was not on the van. By a wide margin the most common cause, and the most fixable. See inventory — stocking the twenty parts that account for most repeat visits eliminates most of them.
The diagnosis was incomplete, so the wrong work was scheduled.
Not enough time was booked, so the technician ran out of day.
The work did not hold, which is a different and more serious conversation.
Using it for capacity planning
Aside from the quality reading, the rate tells you how many appointments a given volume of jobs will actually consume. A business at 30% multi-visit needs meaningfully more schedule capacity per job than one at 10%, and planning on job count alone will run the calendar short.
Available where Housecall Pro is connected.