DCX Links | January 26, 2025
Real-world CX wins: Making life easier for customers and teams, one idea at a time.
Welcome to the roundup of customer experience insights!
This week’s focus is all about what makes customer experiences unforgettable: innovation, empathy, and cutting out the headaches. The best CX isn’t just about shiny new tools—it’s about truly understanding what people need and making their lives easier.
Whether it’s simplifying a process, anticipating what someone wants before they even ask, or empowering your team to take ownership, the common thread is the same: find the friction and fix it. Small changes can lead to big wins when you focus on creating moments that feel personal and seamless.
As you dig into these ideas, think about where you can make things simpler, smarter, or just better for your customers and teams. What’s one change you can tackle this week to deliver real value?
Happy reading—and stay curious, DCXers!
-Mark
This week’s must-read links:
Cainz Redefines Retail: No Lines, All Smarts, Full Loyalty
How Two Innovators Are Redefining Winery CX
Pine: Fighting Fees So You Don’t Have To
Fairfield Carrel: A Masterclass in Understanding User Needs
Friction or Feature?
LEGO’s Secret to Culture Change
Cainz Redefines Retail: No Lines, All Smarts, Full Loyalty
Cainz, a Japanese home improvement giant, is rewriting the playbook on shopping. From checkout-free stores to AI-powered predictions, they’re showing us what the future of retail can look like.
No Checkout? No Problem.
Shop and go: Cainz Mobile Store lets customers skip the lines. You scan a QR code to enter, grab what you need, and leave—payment happens through the app, powered by AiFi’s fancy computer vision tech.
Why it’s genius: Nobody likes waiting in line. Imagine if your business could remove a big pain point like that. What would your customers thank you for ditching?
AI Predicts What’s in Your Cart Before You Do
Smarter stocking: Cainz uses Google Cloud’s AI to predict what customers will buy, so their shelves are stocked with exactly what people want. It’s live in 209 stores and counting.
CX takeaway: Predictive tech isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about trust. When customers know you’ve got what they need, they keep coming back.
The App That Gets You
Pocket powerhouse: The Cainz app does it all—personalized tips, real-time stock updates, even a map to find what you’re looking for in the store. It’s like having a personal shopper, minus the awkward small talk.
Think about this: How easy is it for your customers to navigate your products or services? Can you make it smoother, faster, smarter?
What’s Next? Even More AI Magic
Cainz is dreaming big with:
Virtual try-ons for DIY projects
AI-powered shopping assistants
Smart mirrors and displays for in-store wow moments
AI-curated customer reviews to help decision-making
Big idea for CX pros: The future of shopping is personal. The more intuitive and tailored your experience, the stronger the loyalty. What small step could you take toward that today?
The bottom line: Cainz is teaching us all a lesson: kill the friction, personalize everything, and stay ahead with tech. Whether you’re in retail or not, there’s a ton to learn from their playbook. What’s your next move?
How Two Innovators Are Redefining Winery CX
The Big Idea:
Wineries thrive on personal connections, but keeping track of customer data across tasting rooms, wine clubs, and online orders can be chaotic. That’s where Mitrova’s VinJourney™ shines—bringing everything together to help wineries create unforgettable experiences at every touchpoint.
What Makes It Unique:
A Shared Vision: Co-founders Max Mancini and Tobin Trevarthen met in 2012. They bonded over a shared passion for innovation and human connection—and their love of wine. Max’s family heritage and Tobin’s sense of discovery inspired them to rethink how technology could elevate hospitality in the wine world.
Tailored for Wineries: VinJourney™ isn’t your standard CRM; it’s purpose-built for wineries. It combines deep industry knowledge with cutting-edge tech to provide a 360° view of every customer, from their favorite wines to their loyalty memberships.
Actionable Delight: More than just a platform, VinJourney™ delivers insights wineries can use to craft memorable, joy-filled experiences for every customer. This isn’t about data for data’s sake—it’s about making connections matter.
Why CX Pros Should Care:
Max and Tobin’s story is a reminder that great CX starts with empathy and vision. By merging technological expertise with a human-first approach, they’re helping wineries redefine customer connection and loyalty. Imagine applying that same blend of data and heart to your business.
Your Next Step:
How can you bring a little “actionable delight” into your customer experiences today? Look for ways to connect the dots between data and meaningful moments.
Unlock Leadership That Inspires Action
For CX professionals who lead, manage, or simply want to be heard—this is your playbook for building unshakable influence.
“What stood out was how action-oriented the course is. Each email comes with practical tips and challenges that I could apply immediately in my day-to-day interactions. It’s not just theory—I found myself practicing the advice on active listening, relationship building, and credibility right away. This positively impacted how I approached conversations and built connections with my colleagues and clients.” - Dr. Chris Brown, CEO MRI/MarketCulture
Pine: Fighting Fees So You Don’t Have To
What Sparked the Idea?
Ever spent hours on the phone trying to fix a billing issue? The creators of Pine know the struggle. They realized credit card companies are usually willing to waive or negotiate charges—as long as you call—but the process is a nightmare. And it’s not just credit cards. Most service bills—like mobile, cable, and utilities—are negotiable if you’re willing to battle it out.
The Problem in Numbers:
Only 5% of customers trust the automatic callback option.
79% of calls involve being transferred at least once.
53% of people have to repeat their issue to multiple agents.
Meanwhile, 60% of agents say they don’t even have the tools to provide a good experience.
Their Solution:
Enter Pine, your personal AI assistant for customer service. Pine handles the frustrating tasks for you, like disputing charges, negotiating bills, and canceling subscriptions. No hold music. No repeating yourself. Just results.
Why CX Pros Should Pay Attention:
This shows how even the most dreaded interactions—like calling customer service—can be reinvented with a little empathy and a lot of innovation. When companies remove friction and empower their teams with better tools, they don’t just save customers time—they earn loyalty.
Your Action Step:
What part of your customer service process causes the most friction? And how can you start fixing it?
NEW from DCX: Get Every Department Onboard with Customer-Centricity
Want to build a true customer-first culture? The CX Leader’s Guide to Organizational Buy-In is your blueprint for getting every department—whether it’s customer service, sales, product, tech, finance, or HR—aligned with customer-centric practices.
Packed with actionable strategies, this guide shows how aligning team goals with customer needs drives real, measurable success. No fluff, no filler—just proven tips to get everyone on the same page. If you’re ready to turn theory into practice, this is the roadmap you’ve been waiting for.
Fairfield Carrel: A Masterclass in Understanding User Needs
What’s the Big Idea?
TMC Furniture created the Fairfield Parent-Child Carrel—a desk that solves the challenge of parents and children working side by side without distractions.
How They Did It:
Meeting a Real-World Need: The design makes it easier for parents to stay productive while keeping their little ones nearby and engaged.
Thoughtful Features: The carrel includes dedicated space for books, toys, and personal items, balancing functionality with empathy.
Listening to Feedback: By collaborating with stakeholders, TMC refined the design to ensure it truly met users’ needs.
CX Lesson Worth Stealing:
Empathy-driven design leads to better customer experiences. The carrel proves that understanding your audience’s pain points and context can spark innovative solutions.
Your Next Move:
Look for hidden customer needs in your CX strategy. Is there a pain point you’ve overlooked that could lead to a standout experience?
Friction or Feature?
Brad Frost, a design system consultant and author of Atomic Design, breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly of login code experiences. It’s not just about security—it’s about how these tiny moments can either frustrate or delight users.
What He Points Out:
Small Details, Big Impact: Login codes seem simple, but clunky experiences (like unreadable codes or slow delivery) can create outsized frustration.
Design for Humans: Frost calls out bad practices, like overly complex instructions or codes that expire too fast, reminding us to put ourselves in the user’s shoes.
Moments That Matter: When done right, login code flows feel seamless—fast, clear, and user-friendly.
Why It Matters for CX Pros:
Think of login codes as micro-interactions that shape the bigger customer experience. If they’re easy to use, customers feel confident and cared for. If they’re frustrating, they’ll take that frustration straight to your competitors.
When was the last time you reviewed your login or authentication process? Are you creating delight—or friction?
LEGO’s Secret to Culture Change
The Gist:
LEGO cracked the code for real culture change by putting employees in the driver’s seat and building a culture where ideas flow and risks are safe to take.
What They Did:
Grassroots Innovation: LEGO involved employees at all levels to identify and address challenges, creating a sense of ownership in the process.
Psychological Safety: Leadership, led by Loren Shuster, Chief People Officer at The LEGO Group, made it clear: no idea is “too out there.” Fail fast, learn faster, and keep moving.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: The company encouraged teams across different departments to work together, breaking down silos and improving overall efficiency.
Why It Matters for CX Pros:
If you want your team to create standout customer experiences, start by building a culture where they feel safe to innovate. Employees who own the process are more invested in solving customer pain points. Break down those silos, encourage collaboration, and let the people closest to the problems lead the charge.
Food for Thought:
What’s one small way you could empower your team to take ownership of CX improvements this week?
Thank you!
I hope you found value in this week’s links. See you next Sunday at 8:15 am ET!
If this edition sparked ideas, share it with a colleague or team member. Let’s grow the DCX community together!
👋 Please Reach Out
I created this newsletter to help customer-obsessed pros like you deliver exceptional experiences and tackle challenges head-on. But honestly? The best part is connecting with awesome, like-minded people—just like you! 😊
Here’s how you can get involved:
Got feedback? Tell me what’s working, what’s not, or what you’d love to see next.
Stuck on something? Whether it’s a CX challenge, strategy question, or team issue, hit me up—I’m here to help.
Just want to say hi? Seriously, don’t be shy. I’d love to connect, share ideas, or even swap success stories.
Your input keeps this newsletter fresh and valuable. Let’s start a conversation—email me, DM me, or comment anytime. Can’t wait to hear from you!
— Mark
www.marklevy.co
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P.S.
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