Explore fresh, expert perspectives on customer engagement and innovation

We’re delighted to announce that we have been awarded the IT Vendor of the Year Award by the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and Computing.

The awards ceremony took place in Central London in November 2022, with the industry out in force to support the awards and celebrate success after another challenging year. The UK IT Industry Awards represent the best and brightest of the IT sector – of all sizes.

Richard Coward, Sales Director at MaxContact said the win “really recognises all the hard work our company’s put in for the last 12 months, how much we’ve grown and the dedication of the team.”

“It’s nice to be celebrated against talented, large organisations. We’re a small organisation compared to others in this category, and it’s really important for smaller organisations to be recognised.”

A special thank you to all of our hard-working employees for your contributions – awards like this highlight the synergy, care and perseverance across internal teams. This award is truly a cumulation of lots of individual efforts – so thank you!

Find out more about MaxContact, here.

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We’re pleased to announce a key new appointment to our senior team following an unprecedented period of growth!

In 2021 our rapid growth saw us become one of the fastest-growing contact centre specialists in the country. We saw record sales across the year, with a 45% growth in subscription revenue in 2021, while we also doubled our headcount from 30 to 60 staff.  We were also named one of the North’s top 50 fastest growing tech companies in the Northern Tech Awards 2021.

Matt Yates joins the business as VP of Engineering to lead the tech team in developing innovative new solutions and create a market-leading customer engagement platform, as well as discovering new areas for business growth. Matt brings over 20 years industry experience growing and developing engineering departments, most notably for Ivanti (formerly AppSense), where he helped grow the company from £20m – £100m in annual revenue in just five years.

Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact said: “My co-founders and I set up MaxContact because we saw first-hand the frustrations organisations experienced in this industry with solutions over-promising and under-delivering on features, support and resilience. With Matt at the helm of our engineering team, I’m excited to see us develop even more features and technologies that continue to improve the lives of people that interact through engagement platforms.

“We have big dreams to continue our rapid growth and transform the industry in 2022 and beyond and with people like Matt on board, we’ll continue to make the business be a force for good not only for our people and our organisation, but for the wider industry.”

Matt Yates, VP of Engineering at MaxContact, said: “It’s fantastic to be joining MaxContact at such an exciting time for the business. I’m really passionate about using technology to help people find better ways of working, which chimes well with the values at the heart of the business. The team they’ve built is really special and I’m looking forward to bringing my experience in enterprise IT to help continue growing the company into an industry leading scale-up, all by putting people first.”

Find out more about MaxContact, here.

MaxContact partners with TForge, a leading contact centre software provider in South Africa, to deliver enhanced omnichannel customer experiences.

Manchester, UK. 13.03.2024 – MaxContact, a provider of cloud-based contact centre solutions, today announced its partnership with TForge, a leading software provider with a deep understanding of contact centres, with a large customer base in South Africa. This collaboration will enable TForge to provide its clients with a true omnichannel experience and enhance its ability to deliver outstanding customer experiences across all interaction channels.

TForge, established in 2013, boasts a proven track record of success in a range of industries but has vast experience in working with debt collection and financial services organisations. With its commitment to providing cutting-edge technology to maximise its client’s productivity, TForge has earned a reputation for providing clients with the solutions they need to differentiate their offerings and improve business performance.

By partnering with MaxContact, TForge will gain access to MaxContact’s cloud-based contact centre technology, integrated with their own solutions to provide their clients with a unique solution for the South African market.

This partnership will unlock new capabilities, including:

• True omnichannel: Seamless integration between voice and digital channels in a single interface, improving both customer and agent experience.
• Advanced outbound features: Delivering conversation outcomes and customer insights to generate more revenue, compliantly.
• Real-time and historical business intelligence: Allowing Tforge’s clients to make proactive decisions that improve performance.

“We are thrilled to partner with TForge and support their journey towards providing market-leading technology within the contact centre industry in South Africa,” said Richard Coward, Enterprise and Strategic Partner Director at MaxContact. “This partnership is not just based on us providing a software solution. For us, it’s about working with a company that matches our values, has a passion for providing excellent service and delivers solutions which solve customers’ problems and adds value to their business. Working together will transform both of our businesses and is the start of a long-term partnership which will continually evolve over the coming years.”

“When we teamed up with Ben Booth, the CEO, and Richard Coward, it immediately became clear that we had found a company that shared our values and aspirations,” said Francois Van Der Mewe, CEO at TForge. He also added, “The innovative and forward-thinking approach of the MaxContact team perfectly aligns with our own, and we’re confident that our partnership will revolutionise the contact centre industry. Our shared culture of excellence and commitment to solving real customer challenges with our cutting-edge innovation sets us apart from the competition. We’re both determined to go above and beyond to serve each other and, more importantly, our customers. Together, we’re greater than the sum of our parts, and we’re excited to lead the way in omnichannel contact centre technology.”

About MaxContact:

MaxContact is the best cloud contact centre platform for delivering conversation outcomes and customer insights to generate more revenue – compliantly. Our cloud-based contact centre platform allows you to have more productive conversations and automatically connects the right people for better call outcomes.  MaxContact has unrivalled outbound dialling capabilities as well as inbound and omnichannel functionality, plus advanced reporting.

About TForge:

TForge is a leading performance-enhancing contact centre technology provider, serving almost 400 contact centre clients with a total of over 35,000 agents. Our Executive Management Team comprises industry experts who have owned and managed large contact centres, giving us a unique perspective in addressing the actual challenges faced by our clients. Relentless innovation is then at the heart of our team to solve these ever-increasing performance challenges. Our flagship product, OmniSense, developed by MaxContact, is supported by various other advanced products and services that boost productivity, drive strategic outcomes, improve customer experience, and empower agents. Find out more about TForge here.

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Debt resolution is an important part of the job for many contact centres, but there are multiple factors at play in today’s debt experience for individuals and businesses.

The cost of living crisis, on top of the multi-faceted impact of the post-pandemic era, has put a real squeeze on both consumers and businesses. In some cases, this has meant taking on additional borrowing, along with paying bills and invoices as late as possible and making difficult choices with finances. On average, adults in the UK now hold £4,279 of unsecured debt, which means that debt recovery activity is likely to continue to rise while economic uncertainty continues.

For those contact centres involved in debt collection, managing processes so that the money can be effectively recovered, but without piling significantly more pressure on those struggling with debt, can be a fine balance to walk.

In this article, we look at the wider context of debt resolution strategies for contact centres and why they matter, how the right call centre software can improve processes and manage debtors more effectively, and how to help ensure more positive interactions for both contact centre staff and customers. Take a look at the webinar below for an expert-led discussion on how to create and execute the best contact strategies for easier debt resolution, and keep reading for more actionable tips for contact centre managers.

The Importance of Effective Debt Collection Strategies

Debt collection as a sector doesn’t always have the best reputation. If businesses and individuals that have fallen into debt feel harassed by those tasked with recovering money from them, it can add considerable stress to the situation and make for extremely fraught and negative interactions with contact centres, on all sides.

Contact centre staff can suffer if a high percentage of their customer interactions are negative and it doesn’t usually encourage customers to clear their debt any more quickly either.

A much more effective way to recover debt is to prioritise both customer and staff welfare, while implementing strategies and techniques that foster a sense of cooperation, trust, support and clarity.

Debt Collection Call Centre Techniques

Debt recovery calls to customers can often make for challenging conversations and difficult negotiations over payment plans. However, there are lots of different techniques that can be used by contact centres dealing with debt recovery to help make the process smoother and more positive for all parties. These may include:

Scripting and conversation starters

While every call and customer is unique and needs to be treated as an individual, it can sometimes help to set a positive tone for the rest of the call if the contact centre staff use a predetermined opening script to quickly and clearly explain why they are calling and the purpose of the conversation, before then tailoring the rest of the call around the customer’s responses.

Active listening

There are few things more frustrating to customers than feeling like they aren’t being listened to or heard properly. By using active listening techniques, call centre staff can help to put the customer at ease that they are being understood and taken seriously, which helps maintain full engagement in the conversation on all sides. Active listening builds trust and rapport, which increases the chances of smoother debt resolution.

Active listening methods for contact centre debt recovery teams include:

• Using affirmative responses to customer statements to illustrate they are being heard
• Repeating or paraphrasing what they are saying, to demonstrate understanding
• Asking questions when needed, to establish context in what the customer is saying and make sure that there is no ambiguity in the information being taken or given
• Using positive language to minimise stress and the chances of escalation.

Displaying empathy and validating customer feelings

Being able to put themself in a customer’s shoes is important in debt recovery calls, because customers need to know that their situation is understood and being taken into account. It can help ensure the call is constructive when call centre staff validate the customer’s opinions and emotions about the situation. This can make them more willing to find a resolution that everyone can agree on.

Transparency

Honesty and transparency are important factors on any debt recovery call, because it helps build trust and being clear about the debt is also a regulatory requirement. Some of the ways to ensure transparency include:

• Clear identification at the start of the call about the caller and what the purpose of the call is
• Accurate information about the debt owed, including any fees or interest also due
• Avoid giving any misleading or ambiguous information.

De-escalation

Some debt recovery conversations can be difficult, so being able to effectively use de-escalation techniques can be valuable skills for contact centre staff. Along with incorporating active listening, using positive language and displaying empathy for the customer’s situation, other de-escalation methods can include:

• Staying calm and composed
• Set clear boundaries for the conversation if the customer becomes aggressive or abusive
• Ask for support from a supervisor
• Offer to follow up in a separate interaction and provide a timeline for this.

Leveraging Call Centre Software for Debt Collection

Alongside the contact centre staff using a variety of techniques during their customer conversations, debt collection with call centre software that is the right match for your business can significantly increase your resolution rates.

A debt collection call centre using software that streamlines repetitive and resource-heavy processes can make all the difference to productivity and the amount of money recouped. Some of these features can include:

• Diallers – to automate the outbound call and connect with the customer without the need for manual number lookup or dialling.
• Call prioritisation – to make the most urgent and important calls first, which can help with customer satisfaction as well as being more efficient.
• Speech analytics – to identify problem areas in the customer journey so the contact centre can take steps to improve processes and performance.
• Scripting – to provide call centre staff with useful guidance to set a positive tone and achieve the best outcomes during calls.
• Secure IVR payments – to give customers a secure, encrypted way to make phone payments 24/7 without relying on contact centre staff to enter data manually.
• Quality Assurance (QA) – to evaluate contact centre call performance and enable the team to make improvements as needed.

Making the most of automation in call centre software

A great way to boost productivity in contact centres involved in debt recovery is to automate as many repetitive processes as possible. This not only frees up time for staff to focus on offering excellent personalised customer service, it can also improve morale and workplace satisfaction.

Some of the tasks and processes that can potentially include automation in debt collection call centres include:

• Communication – with tailored communications going out to individual customers automatically on a pre-planned schedule.
• Payment reminders – including emails, WhatsApp messages and texts, tailored to the payment plan put in place for each customer.
• Chatbots – to respond to common questions and send any complex requests through to staff to deal with.

Using call centre software data analytics to drive debt collection strategies forward

With built-in data collection and analysis in the best call centre software solutions, not only can the platform make the day-to-day operations run more smoothly and productively, it can also inform future debt collection strategy decisions.

By analysing data and outcomes, insights can be delivered on contact centre performance KPIs, as well as potentially predicting future behaviour and patterns of customers. This kind of information can help contact centres to future proof their debt collection strategies and maximise efficiencies.

Creating a Debt Resolution Plan

The key to maximising debt recovery is to develop an effective debt resolution plan, utilising all of the relevant functionality within your call centre software and the skills of your call centre staff, that can be easily tailored to individual customers and their circumstances and preferences.

• Step 1: Understand each customer’s individual debt and its context, including the barriers that are preventing them from clearing the debt straight away.
• Step 2: Establish the communication channels and preferences that work best for individual customers.
• Step 3: Offer flexible payment options, based on an honest discussion about the debt and circumstances.This might include out of hours payments as well as setting a schedule to pay off the debt.
• Step 4: Implement personalised communications and reminders to continue the debt recovery process after initial contact.
• Step 5: Use your data and the insights it provides to improve the service further.

With an effective debt collection call centre software solution monitoring your plan and integrating with other aspects of your business, such as your CMS, CRM, payment gateways, various communication channels and regulatory compliance, you can create a debt resolution plan that delivers better outcomes and an improved customer and staff experience, all while reducing costs.

Managing Staff Wellbeing in Debt Collection Call Centres

With an increase in the levels of debt and busier times ahead for debt collection contact centres, managing staff wellbeing is an important consideration for managers. A happy, well-supported and productive workforce means a more positive culture, lower staff turnover and lower recruitment, onboarding and training costs.

Find out the main employee stressors in your specific contact centre

You might think that you already know exactly why working in a debt collection call centre is stressful for staff, but you might be surprised by some of the things that your employees say.

Putting in place a supportive feedback process is important, to help you understand the real call centre agent experience.

Staff need to feel comfortable enough to be honest about what makes their job tough. While every contact centre is different, some common issues that cause stress may include:

• Management expectations are unclear to staff
• High customer expectations and challenging conversations are difficult to deal with repeatedly
• Striving to meet call targets
• Being measured and monitored every minute of the working day
• Feeling disconnected from the company and coworkers if working remotely

Take steps to mitigate the main causes of stress for staff

There are always going to be challenges when working with customers through a contact sector, but there are ways that call centre managers can reduce some of the stress for the workforce, such as:

• Regularly discussing work stress with teams to create an atmosphere where it’s accepted to talk about this topic
• Improving the quality of internal communications – making sure that it’s a two-way conversation.
• Ensure targets are reasonable and provide support for employees finding this a challenge
• Providing training and coaching when a need is identified
• Implementing wellbeing practices as part of the working day, such as breathing exercises, visualisation, exercise and taking breaks when needed.

Implement regular staff check-ins and wellbeing reminders

Giving contact centre staff a clear route to provide feedback about their role and wellbeing is important. Having regular check-ins can be a good way to do this, either individually or in a small group setting, depending on employee preference.

Setting up wellbeing reminders can be a great way to help staff working remotely to deal with the sense of isolation they may feel after coming off a particularly tricky call. Wellbeing reminders can regularly nudge contact centre workers to take screen breaks, have a drink, do some stretches or breathing exercises. These little things can have a significant positive impact and help employees to feel more valued and supported, as well as encouraging healthy habits that don’t cost anything.

Providing call centre workers with a straightforward way to engage in conversations with those who understand exactly what they are going through can also be a big help when working essentially alone.

Individual wellbeing solutions for your contact centre workers

It’s worth remembering that what one employee finds stressful, another might thrive on, and what reduces stress for one person might be the last thing that another worker wants. In the same way that debt collection customers need to be treated as individuals, with their own preferences, so do debt collection call centre workers.

Enabling employees to choose their preferred options for managing their own wellbeing at work is important, giving them a greater sense of ownership and providing them with what they personally need to feel supported.

For more insights into debt collection solutions, how to improve your processes and achieve easier debt resolution, tune into the full webinar session.

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MaxContact is pleased to announce its partnership with the UK operations of Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) Ltd (listed in BSE & NSE). This partnership is one element of a new ecosystem for HGS UK to differentiate and create memorable customer experiences across admired brands throughout the UK and Europe.

HGS selected MaxContact to assist in continuing to strengthen their contact centre offerings. HGS recognises that employee engagement is a key contributor to memorable customer experiences (CX) and they felt MaxContact has differentiated itself as a UK technology provider across customer and employee engagement.

Providing an easy-to-use platform for agents means HGS will be able to support customers better and be more engaged, delivering a reliable service, operational excellence, and value-for-money.

“We’re thrilled to establish an ongoing partnership with HGS UK, a company that is renowned for delivering high quality CX operations for its clients. Our flexible approach to building and developing a market-leading engagement software platform means we can adapt to the needs of HGS and its clients,” explains Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact.

Michael Hanratty, Director of IT of HGS UK notes, “The migration to MaxContact as one of our key Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) vendors allows HGS to scale quicker and offer a wealth of benefits and features to our clients using a proven robust infrastructure and support model.

The MaxContact team have been a pleasure to work with. The HGS UK team has leveraged their deep and specialised expertise throughout the initial migration and on many occasions since.”

The HGS UK and MaxContact partnership is designed to help HGS’ current and prospective clients exceed customer expectations and fast-track their digital transformations.

Manchester, UK, 22nd May 2024 – MaxContact, a leading UK-based cloud contact centre platform provider, is excited to announce that Adam Prickett has joined the company as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With extensive experience working with SaaS businesses, Adam will play a crucial role in supporting MaxContact’s expansion plans.

With a proven track record in the technology sector, Adam’s experience and insight will be invaluable in ensuring MaxContact is strategically positioned for sustainable growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Additionally, Adam’s financial leadership will play a key role in supporting MaxContact’s AI journey, facilitating the continued development and enhancement of innovative products like the recently launched speech analytics solution, Spokn AI.

Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact, expressed his enthusiasm for Adam joining the team, stating, “We are thrilled to have Adam join the MaxContact team as our CFO. His experience in the SaaS industry and financial leadership will be invaluable as we continue to drive innovation, expand our product offerings, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.”

Adam shared his thoughts on joining MaxContact, saying, “I am delighted to be part of MaxContact’s forward-thinking team and contribute to the company’s remarkable growth journey. I look forward to collaborating with the finance team and wider business to support MaxContact’s strategic goals.”

As CFO, Adam will oversee MaxContact’s financial operations, including a variety of vital areas such as the financial planning of operations and working closely with our investors to maximise the impact of our recent additional investment aimed to accelerate further development in AI technology and scale the UK-based team from 65 to over 100 by 2025. Adam’s leadership will play a crucial role in ensuring the company’s financial health and enabling it to capitalise on emerging opportunities in the contact centre technology market.

With Adam on board, MaxContact will continue to build on the company’s growth trajectory. With his financial leadership and the ongoing innovation in products like Spokn AI, MaxContact is well-positioned to reinforce its position as an industry leader and drive further growth in the UK and beyond.

About MaxContact:

MaxContact is the best cloud contact centre platform for delivering conversation outcomes and customer insights to generate more revenue – compliantly. Our cloud-based contact centre platform allows you to have more productive conversations and automatically connects the right people for better call outcomes.  MaxContact has unrivalled outbound dialling capabilities as well as inbound and omnichannel functionality, plus advanced reporting.

Contact Details:

For further information or media enquiries, please reach out to the MaxContact team at pr@maxcontact.com

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