‘Tis the season for reflection and gratitude. So, before you look ahead to the resolutions for your business in the new year, take a moment to relive last year’s top service industry news.

Below are the most popular stories on Field Service Digital (plus a few of our editors’ favorites) from 2018. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

New Technologies Enter the Fray

Service leaders are savvier than ever at using data at their disposal to ensure their employees and equipment operate at peak performance. But IoT-enabled equipment and data weren’t the only storylines in service. From augmented reality applications in the field to fringe technologies like blockchain, service leaders took a giant leap forward with technology in 2018.

Avitas Systems deploys drones and a slew of other technologies to make dangerous inspection work safer, cheaper and more accurate. Image: Avitas Systems

• Believe the AR hype: These technicians use AR headsets to inspect utility poles in the Midwest.
• Mobile apps keep technicians safe on — and off — the job.
• Are you putting your machine data to work? Borrow some tips form GE Digital’s Eddie Amos.
• ServiceMax CEO Scott Berg explains the enduring appeal of the Salesforce platform.
• Not familiar with blockchain, or what it could possibly have to do with field service? Here’s your primer.
• A roadmap that every service leader can follow to start selling outcomes, not just products.
• Humans are the ultimate service tool, but they’re getting an assist from AI and drones thanks to Avitas Systems.

These Service Leaders Are up to the Challenge

Whether juggling new priorities or rethinking what it means to deliver great service, these visionaries just can’t accept the status quo.

“Reactive maintenance doesn’t work when you have trucks turning up with hundreds of bins of fruit to be processed,” says Darrell Smithsohn, vice president of global services at Compac. Image: Compac

• Germany’s Thermondo helps its customers go digital — and green.
• ShotSpotter has an ambitious goal to improve public safety. And the company’s leaders realized it could do the most good by going all in on service.
• Compac handles tons of fresh produce every year and put an end to enemy No. 1: manual processes.
• Westmor Industries unveiled a digital service toolkit to ditch paperwork once and for all.

Great Service Hinges on Great People 

Service leaders have a lot on their minds. But keeping their service team staffed with passionate, qualified and engaged technicians is among their most important — and challenging — jobs.

Seemingly small workplace perks, such as the quality of the coffee in the breakroom, can have an outsized effect on employee happiness, says Shep Hyken. Image: Pexels

• Is it a bad idea to get too friendly with your work family?
• Yes, managing is difficult. No, that’s not an excuse to shirk the responsibility.
• Simple gestures can have a big affect on employee happiness.
• How much do job titles really matter, anyway?

Customer Service Dos and Don’ts

There’s no recipe for providing perfect customer service. But when you get it right, it’s oh so rewarding.

Your customers will thank you for a frictionless experience. Image: Pexels

• Keep hearing the same customer complains? It’s probably a good time to fix the problem.
• How to develop an emotional connection with your customers.
• OK, so there isn’t a recipe for great customer service, but balancing digital and human experiences is a good first step.
• Fix the problem and get out of the way. Your customers will thank you.

Techs Keep the World Running 

Lastly, part of our job at Field Service Digital is celebrating the important, challenging (and sometimes downright strange) work that service technicians do every day. Without them, our planes wouldn’t fly, our lights wouldn’t turn on and our hospitals wouldn’t operate. So, thanks!

A DHC-6 Twin Otter in Harbour Air’s fleet. Image: Nevin Thompson

• Devastating floods this summer in India displaced more than one million people. IT services firm TCS used ServiceMax to help its employees recover.
• It’s been a year of heartbreaking wildfires and other natural disasters. But this Canadian firm takes pride in maintaining sensors that help to detect fires before they spread.
• At a suburban New York City Repair Café, hobbyist Mr. and Mrs. Fix-its put their passion for tinkering to work.
• Vancouver’s Harbour Air relies on grit, grease and a little ingenuity to keep its workhorse de Havilland Canada seaplane fleet airborne.