Explore fresh, expert perspectives on customer engagement and innovation

Elevating Customer Experiences: MaxContact’s New Funding Boosts AI-Technology Advancements for Enhanced Customer Interactions.

Manchester-based customer engagement technology provider MaxContact announced it has secured funding to accelerate a new phase of innovation and growth.  

MaxContact, which private equity firm FPE Capital has backed since October 2020, has worked to secure additional investment to accelerate further development in AI technology and scale the UK-based team from 65 to over 100 by 2025.

Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact, reflects on the journey, “Having dedicated years to the contact centre and customer engagement industry, we’re incredibly proud of the business we’re building. This investment supercharges our mission to give businesses a platform that makes work-life easier for them and their contact centre or customer engagement teams.”

MaxContact’s vision includes expanding its in-house team, with a key emphasis on scaling the software engineering function and operations teams to enhance customer success. It also plans to accelerate its product roadmap and the delivery of cutting-edge AI-driven technology to its customers while ensuring it delivers a best-in-class service for its valued customer base.

“Over the past six years, we’ve built a robust contact centre customer engagement (CCaaS) platform that serves thousands of users every minute of every day. It means we’ve not only got a wealth of experience in this space, but we can analyse large volumes of call and message data to develop AI tools that help to drive efficiency and ensure companies communicate compliantly with customers, simply and easily.  

One of the biggest challenges for many companies is increased customer demand. Our solutions will help businesses manage this demand more efficiently and reduce repetitive work landing in the lap of skilled agents.”

MaxContact has worked alongside FPE Capital and NatWest to secure this investment.

Kit Maclaren, Director, Corporate Banking & Structured Finance from Natwest, says “We are delighted to have been able to structure this growth finance facility for MaxContact, supporting MaxContact’s management team and FPE Capital as they continue their strong growth in the CCaaS market. This financing facility was delivered through our unique Venture and Growth Finance fund and reflects NatWest’s dedication to supporting high-growth, innovative scale-up businesses. We aim to continue working alongside SME businesses such as MaxContact, which form the heart of the UK economy, driving innovation and job creation.”  

About MaxContact

MaxContact is a customer engagement technology company with a difference. It was founded in 2015 by a group of contact centre professionals who had become frustrated with providers that over promised and under delivered on features, support and resilience. It’s now one of the fastest growing contact centre software specialists in the UK. MaxContact has been ranked one of the top 50 fastest growing technology companies in the North by the Northern Tech Awards consecutively from 2021-2023 and in 2022 received the IT Vendor of the Year Award from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and Computing Magazine.

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Leading debt recovery solutions provider, Marston Holdings, chooses MaxContact software to support on business expansion plans.

Manchester – 25th July 2023 – Manchester-based customer engagement technology provider MaxContact today announced its partnership with Marston Holdings, a leading solutions provider in corporate debt recovery.

Marston Holdings has been operating for almost 40 years, growing both organically and through acquisitions providing integrated technology-enabled solutions for private and commercial clients. They work in various public services aiding customers in debt recovery, parking fines, court orders as well as commercial debt, now recovering up to £850m each year on behalf of taxpayers.

As a fast-growing business, Marston Holdings wanted to improve the agility and technical capabilities of its outbound dialler, which wasn’t able to match their need to scale. After an extensive procurement process, Marston Holdings selected MaxContact’s outbound dialler as a more efficient and comprehensive solution for their needs across 285 full omnichannel diallers. The software will be also integrated with Marston’s workforce management and back-office CRMs and PBX.

Marston Holdings is implementing the MaxContact solution companywide across all of its brands,  as the company continues to grow. The company also plans to implement new features based on MaxContact’s commitment to continual product development, including AI chatbot functionality.  

Tim Van Oerle, Group Managing Director at Marston Holdings, said “As a fast-growing business we need technology that can be agile and scale with our expansion. MaxContact has been fantastic at understanding these needs and providing personalised support every step of the way, and we look forward to enhancing the services for our team and for our clients and customers.”

Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact, said “We are really excited to be partnering with the team at Marston Holdings. We pride ourselves on providing personalised service and agile technology to businesses across the UK and can’t wait to support Marston Holdings on their meteoric growth journey.”

About MaxContact

MaxContact is a customer engagement technology company with a difference. It was founded in 2015 by a group of contact centre professionals who had become frustrated with providers that over promised and under delivered on features, support and resilience. It’s now one of the fastest growing contact centre specialists in the UK with a 97% CSAT rating and over 100 customers. The company was ranked one of the top 50 fastest growing technology companies in the North by the Northern Tech Awards in 2021 and 2022 and has recently received the IT Vendor of the Year Award from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and Computing Magazine.

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Need to reduce costs, but don’t want to sacrifice customer or employee experience? This is a very real situation that so many contact centre leaders are currently facing.  

Following the pandemic, prices are rising, there’s an energy crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, and the great resignation on top. Regardless of industry type, everyone has been affected in some way.  

In this webinar, MaxContact’s Product Owner, Sean McIver and CEO Ben Booth, combine more than 30 years of experience working in or alongside contact centres to provide actionable tips and strategies for making cost-saving changes.  

They answer the most pressing questions from contact centre leaders across all industries, provide practical ways to make cost-saving changes, suggest how to utilise technology to streamline operations and more.  

Keep reading for the top takeaways from our discussion or tune in to the full video.

Doing more with less  

The global business landscape has witnessed a steady increase in costs. This upward trend is particularly prominent in the technology and development industry, and as a software company, MaxContact has experienced this first-hand.  

In addition to rising costs, businesses are being asked to do more with fewer resources. The pandemic further compounded this by altering work dynamics across contact centres, resulting in a surge in customer interactions and a decline in available staff.  

During the pandemic, many organisations saw a drop in staffing numbers, while at the same time experienced an increase in customer interactions. The work-from-home model enabled people to address issues and seek assistance without waiting until their workday concluded or setting aside an admin day.  

As a result, the influx of customer enquiries rose, presenting contact centres with the challenge of meeting a far higher demand with a far smaller number of employees. And this hasn’t gone away, says Ben, and it won’t go away. That’s why it’s important to find the best solution going forward.  

Sean emphasises that within the contact centre industry, there are certain demographics that have been affected more than others. For example, those in the BPO (business process outsourcing) space have had to deliver on their own metrics as well as deliver the client requirements, which can be massively varied.  

Ways to reduce costs

Reducing costs is one thing, but how can you do it without impacting the employee and the customer experience?

To explain this, let’s break it down into three pillars: people, technology and data.  

People

Pre-pandemic, Ben explains, agents were often treated as commodities, resulting in high attrition rates. However, the staffing crisis prompted a shift towards recognising the importance of employee engagement and motivation within contact centres.  

It became clear that factors beyond monetary compensation – such as understanding your value to the business, aligning with company goals, and career progression – were instrumental in retaining talent.  

By recognising and addressing these factors, contact centres can foster a motivated and committed workforce.  

However, in order to address the challenges associated with rising staff costs, contact centres need to prioritise sustainable growth.  

It’s important to involve the entire organisation in setting the goals for this, from staff on the ground to those at the top. Engaging with frontline staff and seeking insights on process improvement and pain points can lead to valuable innovations. And while some won’t work, says Ben, some will and could have a lasting positive impact on the company.  

There’s still much to do in this space, says Sean, but the migration of staff from commodity to asset is critically important.

Technology

Ben doesn’t know an industry that has embraced modern technology as much as the contact centre space. But most systems offer more capabilities than many realise. To maximise value, lean on your vendors and get their advice on ways to get more value from the contact centre software you’re using, and embrace cutting-edge technologies, such as real-time agent assistance.  

Agent-assist is AI-powered software that provides suggestions to agents while they are in conversation with a customer. These transcriptions add enormous value as they help people deal with more complex calls faster and can improve training time. However, Ben is wary of scripted responses, as he feels this can demotivate agents.  

Sean emphasises how important it is to leverage the tools at your disposal to keep costs down. For example, ask yourself: how effective is your IVR? Make sure it is as slick as possible and that scripting tools provide agents with the right information at the right time to reduce callbacks.  

Data

Always keep an eye on the data.  

• Why are people contacting you?
• What for?
• What training is required?  

Also, try to engage more with your long-standing staff. Sean explains how those who have been with you for a while will have a range of shortcuts, cheats, and quick wins that you might not know about, or that haven’t been formalised. Centralise that knowledge to help other staff members streamline processes.  

This will also make your long-standing staff feel valued.  

Also, lean on your providers. If you have a challenge, take that challenge to them and ask what you should do, says Sean. The data that comes from these types of exchanges provide valuable information that can speak to a bigger issue in the industry that needs to be addressed.

To learn more about ways to reduce costs without negatively impacting the employee or customer experience, tune in to the full webinar.

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Technology can be scary.

The complexity, the cost, the pace at which it evolves.

For businesses, there is a lot riding on it. Everything from day-to-day operations to strategic future planning depends upon the right hardware, the right software, and the right management.

In the contact centre space in particular, technology has had to respond to seismic changes in the way the world communicates. There are now myriad ways for people to interact with the enterprises and organisations from which they purchase a product or consume a service. In addition, those interactions are no longer confined to certain days or times but occur 24/7.

Focus on the long-term benefits of CCaaS

Today’s cloud-powered contact centre functionality can simplify everything but, for many enterprises, the fear of getting started often means they sit on their hands; thus foregoing the multiple and immediate benefits of taking the plunge.

However, as is so often the case, partnering with the right technology provider can allay those fears: ensuring a smooth and game-changing next step on the digital transformation journey.

“Companies considering contact centre technology are clear about the benefits it brings but indecisive about the actual change – that’s why, for us, the conversation should be less about the actual sale and more about the difference it can make long term,” says Ben Booth, CEO at leading UK-based CCaaS provider MaxContact, whose transparent, plain-speaking approach is helping business leaders everywhere to overcome their nervousness.

“Contact centres are becoming incredibly complex. They are now omni-channel and produce large amounts of data capable of informing a business on the efficiencies of its workflows and how to improve the communication experience.

Choosing the right CCaaS provider is key

“Companies need a partner able to educate them and be alongside them every step of the way. Of course, it is the product which enables the new functionality, but the provider/customer relationship is easily as influential when it comes to return on investment.”

Not that the market is all about enterprises for whom a contact centre is a brand new addition to their stack.

Businesses looking to switch or upgrade existing solutions, and larger enterprises for whom acquisition has increased current contact centre complexity, make up a large portion of the opportunity.

In those cases, picking the right provider is perhaps even more key.

Don’t let fear hold you back

“We have been discussing options with a potential client with 160 sites resulting from a series of acquisitions,” says Booth.  

“They now have seven or eight different contact centre systems and want to move to just one. Understandably, there is some trepidation because the project is complex. Our strategy is to ensure that the same people from our business work from the outset and throughout with the same people from the customer’s business. That enables us to really understand that business and its needs. Having that level of consistency gives our customers confidence that the partnership will thrive which, in turn, alleviates some of that trepidation.”

“We take it very seriously because we know we have the potential to impact people’s lives, wages and careers. For us, the relationship is not all about the sale and the revenue. For us, it’s about the entire digital transformation journey and the long-term depth of the partnership.”

Pace and scale of deployment are also significant influencers on the fear factor.

Some organisations have complex contact centre needs which they need to address quickly. Others want to start small and go slowly. Again, a provider partner with the kind of culture and delivery model that plays well in both those scenarios can take the stress out of the process.

Additionally, in the case of MaxContact, a deep level of experience in verticals such as financial services and utilities means extra levels of confidence can be instilled in potential new customers from those sectors.    

“When we start any new conversation, we are normally very quickly discussing the challenges that we know the organisation is facing,” says Booth.

“That’s because we have specialist knowledge and a great deal of experience. Suddenly, where there was fear, trepidation and nervousness, there can be confidence and excitement.”

This blog was written by Simon Wright, journalist for CX Today, for cxtoday.com. View the original piece here.

Ready to find out more about partnering with MaxContact for your contact centre solution? Book a demo today.

We are thrilled to share that MaxContact, a leading provider of Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions, has been recognised as one of the top CCaaS vendors for 2023 by CX Today.

CX Today explains, “Today, customer experience is the most important battleground on which companies can compete. More than anything else, the experiences companies give to their customers determine whether they’ll capture leads, retain clients, and inspire brand loyalty.  

The contact centre exists at the heart of any strong CX strategy, ensuring teams can connect with customers across a range of channels, track data, and deliver exceptional service. In today’s evolving landscape, CCaaS, or “Contact Centre as a Service” solutions have grown increasingly popular. Not only do these agile platforms allow organizations to evolve rapidly with new tools and features, but they ensure teams can continue to operate productively in the age of hybrid and remote work.

Today, the CCaaS market is rapidly growing, accelerating towards a projected value of $15.07 billion by 2029.”

MaxContact’s CEO, Ben Booth, expressed his excitement about this recognition, “Being included as one of the top CCaaS vendors for 2023 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. At MaxContact, we are passionate about providing organisations with the tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences. This recognition motivates us to continue innovating and driving positive outcomes for our customers.”

An introduction to MaxContact

MaxContact is a customer engagement software platform that drives impact, conversions, and smarter customer experiences. We believe that with the combination of the right people and powerful technology, we can make a difference. That’s why, every day, we’re committed to improving the lives of those that interact through our engagement platform.

Our founders worked together for over ten years at a contact centre solution reseller. They saw organisations become increasingly frustrated with providers that over-promised and under-delivered on features, support, and resilience. Determined to enhance the employee and customer experience, MaxContact was formed. Since then, the business has become one of the fastest-growing contact centre specialists in the UK.

From inbound and outbound to blended and omnichannel, our intuitive software makes customer engagement effortless. Our highly customisable and scalable solution is perfect for businesses with complex requirements and can easily scale as your business grows.

At MaxContact, customer experience is at the heart of everything we do. Find out more about us here.

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Today’s customers are harder to reach, less tolerant of poor customer experience, and much more selective about when and how they engage. Our Voice of the UK Consumer report highlights the challenge:

• 63% are more likely to respond to outbound contact when it’s sent through their preferred channel.
• 58% are more receptive when the message is personally relevant, like renewals, billing or appointments.
• 52% say they’re more likely to answer a call if they’ve received an email or SMS first.
• 76% expect personalised outbound communication, not broad scripts.

[Source: Voice of the UK Consumer Report]

So how do you increase the chances of your calls being answered, messages being acted on, and customers responding positively?

Start with two foundations:

• A data-driven outbound strategy built on real behavioural insight rather than assumptions.
• Technology and automation that free agents to focus on the conversations where human interaction matters most.

Without these foundations, outbound teams risk dialling blind. With them, you can target strategically, stay compliant, reduce costs, and deliver better outcomes for both customers and agents.

What is a contact strategy?

A contact strategy, or in this case, an outbound contact strategy, is a structured plan for how a contact centre engages with customers. It sets rules for who to contact, when, how often, which channel to use, and what message to deliver.

It should also set KPIs (like contact rate, right-party contact (RPC), conversion and cost-per-contact) that you’ll use to measure success. The better the plan, the more people your agents will speak to, and the more positive those interactions will be.

How to create an effective contact strategy

Define outcomes & set KPIs

Before you get into outbound channels, dialler modes, or scripts, start with the “why”. What’s the outcome you want to achieve, and how will you measure it? Pick 3-4 KPIs for a period of time, set a baseline, and track against your targets.

Here are some example KPIs:

• Sales contact centre: Contact rate, Right-party contact (RPC), Conversion, CSAT
• Debt collection: RPC, Promise-to-pay (PTP) rate, Complaints rate

Without defining your KPIs and taking this step, you won’t be able to benchmark or improve your contact strategy in the future.

Build your data foundation

A data-driven outbound strategy is only as good as the information behind it. Before you refine channels or scripts, make sure you’ve got the basic data covered:

• Who the customer is (ID, segment, account details)
• How to reach them (phone, email, SMS, consent/preferences)
• What happened last time (outcome and notes)
• When you last tried (to avoid over-contacting)
• Key dates or flags (renewals, appointments, balances)

With these foundations in place, technology can take over and save you time. MaxContact’s Contact Prioritisation feature ensures outbound agents see the best-fit records first, so no time is wasted chasing the wrong people. Contact Prioritisations allows contacts to be segmented and prioritised based on specific rules.

Here are what Contact Prioritisation rules might look like in action:

Sales: Follow up on prospects not contacted within 72 hours

Debt collection: Prioritise accounts with balances overdue by 30+ days, or, those with the highest amount of debt owed.

Utilities: Send renewal reminders before contracts expire

Put your contact centre software to work

Your goals are set. Your data foundations are in place. Your campaign is ready to run. With an effective omnichannel contact centre platform in place, you can optimise your entire contact workflow. Aside from reporting results, features that come as part of many contact centre software remove long-winded admin, automate certain tasks, and support agents so they can focus on conversations that matter most.

Here’s a list of key contact centre software features that optimise your contact strategy and enhance customer experience:

Capability: Integrations & data

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Connect CRM and billing so agents see a complete customer view

CX impact: Faster resolutions, no need to repeat information

Capability: Consent & preferences

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Apply GDPR/DNC rules and contact caps automatically

CX impact: Fewer complaints, fully compliant outreach

Capability: Targeting (contact prioritisation)

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Filter records so agents only see contacts that match campaign rules

CX impact: Higher hit rates, no wasted effort

Capability: Omnichannel routing & outbound dialling

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Use diallers, skills-based routing, callbacks, and virtual hold

CX impact: Customers speak to the right person first time, less waiting

Capability: IVR, AI agents & self-serve

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Contain simple queries like payments or balance checks

CX impact: Quicker answers for customers, more time for agents to handle complex cases

Capability: Agent assist & knowledge

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Provide prompts, scripts, and guided workflows

CX impact: Consistent, confident conversations, even with new agents

Capability: QA & analytics

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Quality check interactions with speech analytics and flag coaching needs

CX impact: Continuous improvement, fewer service issues

Capability: Dashboards & alerts

How it improves outbound contact strategy: Monitor KPIs in real time and adapt to demand

CX impact: Smooth service levels, fewer abandoned calls

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Choose the right channel, timing & cadence

For outbound campaigns, channel, timing and cadence have a direct impact on hit rates and contact success. With KPIs set and data connected, the evidence will tell you who to contact, how to contact them, and when.

Channel‍

Look at recent behaviour. Do they open emails, reply to SMS, or pick up calls? Use phone for urgent or complex issues, email or SMS for reminders and renewals, and self-serve/IVR for simple tasks. Make sure you always provide an easy handoff to an agent if needed.

Timing‍

Forget the old rules about “after 6pm” landline calls. Flexible working has changed patterns completely. Use CRM data to book calls when the customer typically answers. If queues are long, offer virtual hold or a callback rather than leaving people waiting.

Cadence‍

Set simple caps, for example, no more than two calls a day, five a week. Pause outreach after clear outcomes (“promise-to-pay agreed” or “not interested”). And always honour consent and channel preferences.

When agents have context from previous interactions, they can also personalise outreach, for example, referencing a prior purchase or payment arrangement. These details make conversations more relevant and more likely to succeed.

Top Tip: Technique matters too! Avoid the biggest call handling mistakes that damage CX that undo good targeting.

How to optimise your contact centre through data-driven strategy

Outbound contact centre optimisation can reduce costs, but it’s also about creating smoother, more positive experiences for both customers and agents. And a data-driven customer contact strategy helps you to strike that balance.

By setting clear KPIs, you can measure what’s working and what needs to improve, whether that’s contact rates, first-call resolution, or customer satisfaction scores. Layer in automation and omnichannel tools, and you reduce wasted effort while making it easier for customers to get the help they need, when and how they want it.

For example, outbound skills-based routing matches the right agent to the prospective customer, while self-service options handle simple tasks without adding to queue times. Real-time dashboards and analytics give managers the insight they need to fine-tune performance on the fly.

Done well, contact centre optimisation improves customer experience and operational efficiency at the same time, giving your business a competitive edge.

Is reducing contact centre cost a priority for you? Read our guide on 7 ways to reduce costs in your contact centre without sacrificing quality.

Why your contact strategy has to flex

One thing that came through strongly in our recent Contact Strategy Webinar is this: there’s no such thing as a universal “best practice” strategy. Customers expect you to flex around their preferences, their comfort with AI, and the complexity of their issue.

A few standout insights from our Voice of the UK Consumer Report:

• 80% of customers expect brands to understand their needs and expectations.
• The AI acceptance gap is a real challenge: 65% of 25–33-year-olds are comfortable with AI interactions, compared to just 27% of over-55s. In fact, 52% of over-55s are actively uncomfortable.
• When things get complex, sensitive or financial, people want human interaction, and 60% prefer speaking to an agent in those scenarios.
• Customers are most accepting of outbound contact when it relates to billing, payments or account updates, and they often prefer an email first, then a call or SMS follow-up.
• 76% expect personalisation. That means data-driven targeting, not just broad scripts.

And the impact isn’t theoretical. One client moved from manual Salesforce dialling to MaxContact’s skills-based routing and data prioritisation. Their conversion rate doubled from 4% to 8%, simply by ensuring the right lead reached the right agent, at the right time.

Tailoring your contact strategy to the use case

These insights underline why your contact strategy can’t be one-size-fits-all. The right approach depends not only on the customer but also on your business context. Sales teams and collections teams, for instance, work with very different goals, sensitivities and success metrics.

Top tips for sales contact strategies

1. Focus on speed to lead: research shows that contacting a new prospect within five minutes can achieve conversion rates of up to 70%. Wait an hour, and it can drop to 20%.
2. Use demographic and geographic filters to maximise ROI, such as prioritising leads in certain postcodes or life stages.
3. Omnichannel flexibility is key. Some prospects will respond to SMS, others prefer email or a WhatsApp nudge.
4. Skills-based routing helps by ensuring high-value or “hot” leads are automatically directed to your top-performing agents.

Top tips for debt collection contact strategies

1. Sensitivity is critical. Customers in arrears often prefer a human agent when discussing finances, rather than automated channels.
2. Prioritisation rules might focus on balance size, number of missed payments, or active repayment plans, ensuring agents spend their time where they can have the most impact.
3. Timing matters too. Contacting just after a payday, for example, can increase recovery rates.
4. Personalisation builds trust: referencing past conversations or agreements makes the customer feel understood rather than pursued.

For a deeper dive, check out our webinar on Creating and Executing the Best Contact Strategies for Easier Debt Resolution: Watch now

Successful contact strategies start with the right platform

The best contact strategies don’t happen by chance. They’re built on data, technology, and a clear understanding of your customers, and they adapt to fit different scenarios, from fast-moving sales campaigns to sensitive debt resolution.

With the right foundation, you can:

• Increase your hit rate by targeting the right people at the right time.
• Reduce wasted effort through automation and filtering.
• Protect compliance while respecting customer preferences.
• Empower agents with the tools and context to turn conversations into outcomes.

That’s exactly what MaxContact’s platform is designed to do. From contact prioritisation to skills-based routing, omnichannel contact, and real-time analytics, it gives you everything you need to design, execute, and continually improve a winning contact strategy.

Are you ready to put your contact strategy into action and see how MaxContact can help you boost results? Request a demo of our contact centre software platform.