DCX Links | March 30, 2025
When Digital Meets Delight: Rediscovering the Magic in CX
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Welcome to the DCX roundup of customer experience insights!
Have you ever wondered how to keep your customer experiences fresh, engaging, and deeply human in a world dominated by digital tech? This week, we're exploring exactly that!
From AI-powered shopping that's genuinely fun, to questioning whether our interfaces have lost their sensory charm, these articles challenge you to rethink the balance between digital convenience and human connection.
Ready to elevate your CX game?
Happy reading—and stay curious, DCXers!
-Mark
This week’s must-read links:
Google Wants You to Shop with Your Camera (and Smile)
Tech Startups Tackling CX Complexity with Next-Level AI
Are You Crushing the Digital Experience Game?
From Zero to AI Hero: Brinks Home's Journey with Virty-Vee
Our Interfaces Have Lost Their Senses
Customer Centricity SOS: Digital and Leadership to the Rescue
Google Wants You to Shop with Your Camera (and Smile)
Google just rolled out some flashy new AI-driven shopping tools designed to make your customers say "wow." Vision Match, their latest AI innovation, lets shoppers snap pictures or videos of products they love—and instantly find exact matches or close alternatives. Meanwhile, Google's AR beauty tools just got a glam-up, letting customers virtually test makeup looks in real-time before spending a dime.
Why This Matters for CX Champions:
Try Before You Buy, Digitally: Reducing guesswork and increasing purchase confidence means fewer returns and happier customers.
Hyper-Personalization Just Got Real: These AI-powered experiences deliver uniquely tailored recommendations, connecting deeply with customer preferences and driving loyalty.
Keep Up or Get Left Behind: Embracing AI and AR today isn't just trendy—it's quickly becoming a retail necessity. Early adopters will lead; everyone else might find themselves scrambling.
Bottom Line: If you're serious about elevating customer experience, it’s time to give customers an immersive, personalized, and downright delightful digital shopping experience.
🔗 Full breakdown? Right this way → Source
Tech Startups Tackling CX Complexity with Next-Level AI
Generative AI has dramatically transformed customer service—but according to Nick Clark, BCG Partner and author of the Substack newsletter Service Matters, there's still significant untapped potential. Clark spotlights innovative startups like SentioCX, Koios, and Kore.ai, each creatively addressing some of customer experience's most challenging issues:
SentioCX: Dynamically connects customers from bots to human agents at critical moments, improving satisfaction and retention.
Koios: Uses advanced sentiment analysis—including voice tone and personality profiling—to provide hyper-personalized responses.
Kore.ai: Offers a no-code/low-code platform that simplifies building intelligent bots capable of managing complex customer processes.
Why CX Leaders Should Take Note:
Cutting Through Complexity: These startups aren't just enhancing bots; they're making interactions smoother, smarter, and more human.
Proactive, Not Reactive: Tools like SentioCX identify the perfect moment to elevate service, ensuring customers never need to ask for human assistance.
Deep Personalization: Understanding customers' moods and personalities, as Koios does, transforms standard interactions into standout experiences.
The Big Takeaway: The future of exceptional CX isn't about replacing people with technology—it's about using tech to amplify human connection and clarity.
🔗 Learn more→ Service Matters
Are You Crushing the Digital Experience Game?
Harvard Business Review just released insights showing that while everyone's talking about digital-first experiences, only about a third of companies actually get it right. It's a competitive world out there—and nailing those standout digital interactions makes all the difference.
Quick Wins for CX Champs:
Data Integration is Your BFF: Get your data in one place—trustworthy, easy to access, and fully integrated—so you can make smarter, faster decisions.
AI Isn't Future Tech—It's Now: Top teams are already using AI to personalize customer journeys, boost engagement, and predict customer moves.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Cross-functional collaboration and continuous tweaks keep your experiences fresh, relevant, and competitive.
Why You Should Care:
Stay Ahead or Fall Behind: Digitally mature companies don’t just survive—they thrive by leveraging quality data, AI, and seamless experiences.
The Four Essentials: Tech readiness, collaborative teams, streamlined operations, and strategic alignment are the pillars holding up standout CX.
Avoiding Pitfalls: Companies lagging behind often wrestle with fragmented data, weak AI adoption, and team silos—leading to unhappy customers and lost opportunities.
Your Bottom Line: Leveling up your digital experiences isn’t just smart CX—it’s great business sense.
🔗 Get the full report free → Source
From Zero to AI Hero: Brinks Home's Journey with Virty-Vee
Philip Kolterman, CIO at Brinks Home, shares an inside look at their exciting journey to develop "Virty-Vee," a customer service AI agent powered by Cresta. Over four transformative months, the team overcame challenges like complex system integrations, performance optimization, and ensuring robust cybersecurity—all to make customer interactions not just efficient but delightful.
Here's What They Learned:
Start Complex, Not Simple: Surprisingly, tackling knowledge-heavy technical support cases first gave Virty-Vee the perfect proving ground.
Speed Matters, A Lot: In voice interactions, even slight delays matter—making agile, reliable APIs crucial.
Security Isn't an Afterthought: Cybersecurity was built in from day one, ensuring customer data remains secure and anonymous.
Automated Quality Beats Human Bias: Automated testing powered by AI removes subjective evaluations, ensuring consistently high standards.
Why This is Big for CX Pros:
Real Delight Beats Expectations: Customers loved the unexpected conversational experience, turning routine interactions into memorable ones.
Human-AI Collaboration is Key: Effective AI agents still require oversight and care similar to their human counterparts.
Integrated Tech & Teams Win: Cross-functional teamwork and deep integration of business and IT were essential in pulling off this ambitious project.
Looking Ahead: Brinks Home is now focused on expanding Virty-Vee's capabilities with personalized customer interactions, deeper CRM integration, omnichannel experiences, and even more creative uses of AI across the organization.
🔗 Get the Full Story→ Linkedin
Our interfaces have lost their senses
In a beautifully crafted reflection, Amelia Wattenberger explores how modern digital interfaces have abandoned sensory richness—like texture, sound, and physicality—in favor of flat, sterile designs. She argues compellingly that this shift diminishes user experience and connection.
Why You Must See It:
This isn't just a read; it's an experience. Wattenberger's thought-provoking insights and visuals will make you rethink how your digital products engage—and delight—your customers.
Seriously, see it for yourself. Your senses (and your customers) will thank you.
🔗 Explore the original→ Source
Customer Centricity SOS: Digital and Leadership to the Rescue
Everyone claims they're customer-centric—but are they really? A new paper by Frédéric Dalsace, Didier Bonnet, and Katharina Lange of the IMD Business School, shows many organizations are stuck in three sneaky traps that sabotage customer focus:
Product Tunnel Vision: Getting so obsessed with product improvements that companies miss evolving customer desires. (Just ask Peloton.)
Boundary Obsession: Too much control over value delivery, leaving customers passive—and missing out on creative interactions (hello, Yahoo!).
Fixed-Pie Syndrome: Viewing customer interactions as zero-sum games—think Uber’s infamous surge pricing backlash.
How to Dodge These Pitfalls:
Insight Is the New Oil: Digital tools unlock continuous customer insights—think Netflix personalizing your binge-worthy weekend.
Humility and Courage FTW: Leadership embracing humility (hello, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella) and courage (looking at you, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi) can foster a genuinely customer-focused culture.
Expand the Pie: Innovative revenue models (subscriptions, pay-per-use) made possible through digital tech can align company and customer interests. (Adobe’s Creative Cloud pivot nailed this.)
Why It Matters for CX Leaders:
Great CX isn't just strategy—it's the lifeline keeping companies ahead in a constantly shifting marketplace. Companies that authentically marry digital innovation with visionary leadership won’t just survive; they'll thrive.
🔗 Get the full study→ Source
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? Hit me up whether it’s a CX challenge, strategy question, or team issue—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. I can’t wait to hear from you!
— Mark
www.marklevy.co
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