Explore fresh, expert perspectives on customer engagement and innovation

Integrating Curious Thing’s advanced conversational AI platform into MaxContact’s existing suite of solutions will accelerate the company’s product roadmap and provide clients with more sophisticated tools to enhance customer experiences.

It also represents an exciting next step that builds upon MaxContact’s established AI offering, particularly its Spokn AI platform, which currently provides advanced speech analytics that helps businesses understand the ‘why’ behind 100% of contact centre conversations. The recent launch of Success Intelligence, an enhancement to Spokn AI that reveals the DNA of successful sales conversations through AI-powered analytics, further demonstrates MaxContact’s ongoing commitment to innovation in this space.

Curious Thing’s conversational AI technology will strengthen these capabilities with the introduction of AI agents for sales, debt collections and customer use cases.

AI agents are skilled bots that can converse naturally with clients to promptly answer their questions. They may wish to schedule an appointment or get a quote for a part for a new vehicle. The AI agents take the routine tasks away from the human agents so they can focus on more value-added tasks.

“The strategic acquisition of Curious Thing represents a major milestone in our AI strategy,” said Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact. “We’ve always believed that the best conversation outcomes come from empowering human agents with the right technology, not replacing them. Curious Thing’s AI abilities will therefore help our clients’ contact centre teams become more efficient while maintaining that crucial human connection.”

MaxContact’s enhanced AI offering with Curious Thing’s integration will focus on:

• AI Agents: Providing real-time AI agents to handle routine customer interactions
• Performance Insights: Delivering deeper analytics and actionable intelligence to improve service quality continually
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlining workflows and automating routine tasks to allow agents to focus on complex customer needs

“We’re seeing a significant shift in how UK businesses approach customer engagement and digital transformation,” added Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact. “Our clients are looking for solutions that empower their teams with AI-driven insights and assistance while preserving the authenticity and empathy that human agents can provide. This acquisition positions us perfectly to meet that need.” It comes as the contact centre industry faces increasing pressure to balance efficiency with personalisation and performance increases, a challenge that MaxContact’s human-centred AI approach directly addresses.

It comes as the contact centre industry faces increasing pressure to balance efficiency with personalisation and performance increases, a challenge that MaxContact’s human-centred AI approach directly addresses.

Find out more about MaxContact and Curious Thing, here.

AI-powered speech analytics transforms how contact centres train their teams, turning every customer interaction into a potential coaching moment.

The challenges facing call centre training today are multifaceted and culminate to create a negative cycle of agent churn. High staff turnover rates put pressure on call centres to onboard quickly. But rising customer expectations demand agents who can handle complex interactions with empathy and expertise. Unfortunately, traditional training methods often fall short in preparing agents for real-world scenarios.

Without data-driven coaching, agents receive generic feedback that fails to address their individual performance challenges. This one-size-fits-all approach leaves gaps in skills development and missed opportunities to develop your team’s existing expertise.

In this article, we’ll share 15 actionable training tips to help you revolutionise your contact centre’s approach to agent development. Drive performance across your entire team by improving onboarding efficiency and encouraging continuous learning strategies with the help of AI-powered contact centre software.

By implementing these strategies, you’ll reduce turnover costs and create a more engaged workforce that delivers exceptional customer experiences.

Call Centre Training: Our Top Tips

1. Develop a comprehensive onboarding program

A sleek and structured onboarding plan equips new agents with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to succeed. The most efficient onboarding programs combine classroom training with shadowing experiences and gradually incorporate call handling responsibilities as agents grow in confidence. This methodical approach helps new hires build confidence and helps to reduce the overwhelming feeling that often leads to poor agent retention.

Learn more about improving call centre staff retention

2. Build a culture of continuous learning

Top-performing contact centres don’t see training as a one-time event, never to be repeated. Instead, it is treated as an ongoing process. By providing regular training sessions and upskilling opportunities, you keep agents engaged and ensure their skill set is adaptable to meet changing customer needs. To achieve this, consider implementing micro-learning sessions, peer coaching, skill development pathways and build a culture that prioritises personal development to support performance.

Discover how to improve contact centre performance this year

3. Give agents the tools they need to succeed

Regardless of experience, even the best-trained agents won’t consistently perform to the best of their ability without the right technology. Modern contact centre platforms successfully integrate customer information, communication channels, and knowledge bases into a single platform. This helps agents to access everything they need without jumping between multiple interfaces. By reducing agent frustration and improving operational efficiency, cloud-based content centre platforms boost the quality of customer interactions and overall call performance outcomes.

Explore what Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) can offer

Learn how MaxContact’s platform allowed APJ Solicitors to increase call volume by 110% within the first year of onboarding.

Read the full case study

4. Arm agents with effective call scripts

Well-designed call scripts help agents handle various scenarios confidently and maintain brand consistency. The key is creating scripts that guide conversations without sounding robotic. Effective scripts will incorporate decision trees for common questions, objection responses, and provide clear next steps; all while giving agents enough flexibility to personalise interactions.

Learn how to write a call centre script in 6 easy steps

5. Make sure agent training covers call handling, product knowledge and internal processes

Agent training must go further than basic call etiquette. To feel confident on the phone and provide customers with a positive experience, agents need to develop deep product knowledge. They also need an understanding of internal processes, so they can resolve any issues efficiently, such as when to escalate a complaint for example.

Call training should also include hands-on practice with your contact centre software, which helps agents navigate systems smoothly (and quickly) during live calls. This approach reduces average handle time, boosts customer satisfaction, and minimises repeat calls.

Learn how to reduce average handle time in your call centre

6. Regularly analyse key performance metrics

If you don’t actively measure and review performance KPIs, how can you improve them? Regularly assessing KPIs will help you identify specific training needs and areas for improvement across your team much more easily. The first step is to focus on metrics that matter most to your business objectives, whether that’s first call resolution, customer satisfaction scores, conversion rates, or average handling time.

Discover how to measure call centre efficiency

“We can now measure what we need to measure – performance, productivity, call rates and so on, whenever we need to.” Steph Warricker, Operations Manager at D2MS.

Read the full case study

7. Use AI Speech analytics to gain deeper performance insights

AI speech analytics transforms how you analyse and interpret customer interactions. With the ability to search transcribed files for key phrases, and insight into customer call sentiment, it:

• Helps QA teams catch compliance issues before they escalate.
• Provide detailed insights that help tailor training agent programs to address specific challenges.

AI speech analytics identifies patterns across thousands of calls that would be impossible to spot through manual review alone.

Explore how speech analytics turns conversations into insights

“Spokn AI will absolutely revolutionise the way we approach sales training and people’s individual performance.” Karl Burke, Contact Centre Manager at Honey Group.

Read the full case study

8. Uncover how your best-performing agents overcome objections

Within your team, you’ll no doubt have your top performers – the ones that are consistent. These agents have already figured out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to overcoming customer objections. With tools like Success Intelligence, it is possible to monitor your best agents and track how they handle common objections. This level of intelligence helps to uncover the most effective techniques for turning objections into conversions and provides real-life examples for training new and struggling team members.

Discover how AI identifies and analyses sales objections

9. Teach agents to recognise and respond to customer emotions

Emotional intelligence is a crucial skill to have in a call centre environment. Frustrated customers need agents who can quickly understand their needs and handle interactions with appropriate sensitivity. Sentiment analysis tools help identify interactions that started with negative sentiment and ended positively. This provides valuable examples that can be used to teach agents how to adjust their approach based on customer emotions.

Learn about sentiment analysis in call centres

10. Make sure compliance is built into call centre training from the start

Non-compliant calls threaten damage to customer trust and can lead to significant financial penalties. AI-powered speech analytics helps QA teams uncover potential compliance risks through keyword searches and pattern recognition. This paves the way for proactive coaching, allowing non-compliant behaviour to be identified and rectified quickly before it becomes a repeated habit.

Explore how to remain compliant whilst driving B2C outbound sales

11. Enhance quality assurance processes for shorter feedback loops

Not only are traditional manual call reviews time-consuming, they also only cover a small sample of agent-customer interactions. This is problematic for call centre training for two reasons:

1. Because call reviews take so long to complete, feedback is delayed and shared with agents long after any incidents happen.
2. A large percentage of calls go unchecked, wasting potential coaching opportunities, and leaving agents repeating the same mistakes.

AI-assisted quality assurance streamlines the review process and enables QA teams to assess more calls. This helps managers to spot issues faster and significantly shorten feedback loops.

Learn about using AI speech analytics for quality assurance

12. Improve outbound success with smarter call centre training

Outbound sales relies on a different skill set compared to inbound support. Agents need specific training on effective outreach techniques, handling objections, and timing calls to achieve better response rates. AI call analytics provides invaluable insight into what works and what doesn’t in outbound interactions, allowing you to refine scripts and approaches based on proven success patterns.

Discover how to use speech analytics to increase B2C outbound sales

13. Train agents to manage high-stress interactions effectively

Handling frustrated or angry customers is never an easy task; it’s perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of call centre work. Call centre training should include techniques that agents can apply in these situations to help them stay calm under pressure and work through issues appropriately. De-escalation, active listening, and problem-solving should all be practised during role-playing exercises that explore challenging scenarios and help build confidence for new agents.

Access scripting templates for difficult customer interactions

14. Train agents to handle multi-channel customer interactions

Modern call centres aren’t just about voice calls. In this day and age, customers interact via email, chat and social media, often switching between channels during the same issue resolution. Train your agents to handle the different communication styles each channel requires while delivering a consistent customer experience regardless of how customers choose to connect.

Explore our ultimate guide to omnichannel contact centre software

15. Give clear feedback led by data instead of vague opinions

Vague feedback like “be more empathetic” or “sound more confident” is open to interpretation and rarely drives meaningful improvement. An advanced speech analytics platform provides call centre managers with detailed performance insights for their agents. This helps transition from generic feedback that often goes unactioned to specific, data-led coaching with actionable takeaways that measurably improve performance.

Learn how conversation intelligence enhances call centre training

By combining technology with proven training strategies, your call centre can turn every interaction into a coaching opportunity. Are you ready to take agent performance to the next level?

See how MaxContact’s Contact Centre Software can support you.

‍

“I’ll prioritise this person first – they look more promising.”

Sound familiar? Whether you’re a debt collection specialist reaching out to contacts, a sales team pursuing leads, or a customer service team following up on enquiries, manually selecting who to call next feels like control. Many believe this selective approach makes them more productive. But what if there’s a better way to manage your outbound calls?

Transitioning from manual to automated dialling represents one of the most impactful changes a contact centre can make. It’s not just a technical upgrade – it’s a shift in mindset that can dramatically improve productivity and results. Yet like any meaningful change, it can meet resistance.

At MaxContact, we’ve guided hundreds of contact centres through this transition, and we’ve developed a streamlined approach that minimises disruption while maximising results. This guide walks you through the journey, addressing common concerns and highlighting the benefits you can expect along the way.

Understanding the Challenge

Before diving into the detail of the implementation roadmap, let’s run through why this transition can sometimes face resistance:

• Lead ownership: Agents sometimes prefer manual dialling because it gives them control over which leads they pursue
• Cherry-picking: The ability to select promising leads first can feel like a productivity advantage to agents
• Comfort with the familiar: Change, even positive change, can be uncomfortable

But what if we told you that automated dialling delivers more quality conversations, improves connection rates, and makes hitting targets easier? Let’s explore how.

Implementation Roadmap: Your Journey to Automated Dialling Success

Phase 1: Discovery & Planning

The journey begins with understanding your current dialling processes and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Key activities:

• Assess your current manual dialling processes, for example, dialling manually from a spreadsheet.
• Identify how you currently prioritise calls.
• Establish baseline KPIs (calls per hour, connection rates, conversions).
• Define success criteria for the implementation.

Pro tip: Be transparent with your team about the upcoming change. Share the ‘why’ behind the transition and how it will make their jobs easier, not harder.

Phase 2: Technical Setup

Once we understand how your team works, we can configure MaxContact to support and enhance your workflows.

Key activities:

• Develop a data import strategy
• Configure data prioritisation to dial your most valuable contacts first
• Set up campaign parameters, including dialling modes, connection rates, wrap times etc, to align with your business objectives and compliance requirements.
• Prepare reporting dashboards for real-time monitoring

Addressing team concerns: If your team currently cherry-picks contacts based on specific criteria, we can build that intelligence into the automated system. Through integrations with your CRM or data sources, we can replicate your prioritisation logic.

For example, if your team prioritises contacts based on engagement history, demographic data, or likelihood to convert, we can configure MaxContact to automatically fetch and prioritise contacts using those same criteria. This gives you the benefits of cherry-picking without the manual effort, ensuring high-value contacts are reached first while maintaining consistency across the team.

Phase 3: Training & Go-Live

This critical phase combines preparation and action as your team begins using MaxContact with our support.

Key activities:

• Train team members on how to use MaxContact
• Address resistance to change through education
• Provide on-site or remote go-live support
• Offer real-time troubleshooting and daily feedback sessions
• Monitor initial performance metrics

Message to your team: “The time you spend on the phone is going to be higher quality, your talk time will increase, instead of dispositioning another ‘no answer’ or voicemail. Instead, you’ll get through to live connections. This means more meaningful conversations and better results.”

During this phase, our experts work alongside your team to ensure a smooth transition, quickly addressing any issues that arise and making adjustments as needed. This hands-on approach helps build confidence and accelerates adoption across your organisation

Phase 4: Optimisation & Measuring Success

Once the system is operational, we focus on continuous improvement and measuring impact against your goals.

Key activities:

• Fine-tune prioritisation criteria
• Compare performance metrics to pre-implementation baselines
• Track success in progressive stages (adoption → productivity → outcomes)
• Identify opportunities for further optimisation
• Calculate ROI and long-term business impact

How Long Will This Take?

The timeline for implementation varies depending on the size of your operation and complexity of your requirements:

Small teams (up to 25 users): Typically around 2 weeks from discovery to go-live

Medium teams (up to 50 users): Approximately 3 weeks

Large teams or complex requirements: Custom timeline based on specific needs

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss your organisation’s individual needs.

Benefits That Make the Transition to Automated Dialling Worthwhile

For Team Members

• More quality conversations: Connect only with live contacts, not voicemails or no-answers
• Less wasted time: No more manual dispositioning of unsuccessful calls
• Easier target achievement: More quality conversations lead to more successful outcomes
• Better customer experience: Immediate connection when customers answer

For Team Leaders

• Real-time performance dashboards: See exactly how your team is performing
• Improved team productivity: Get more from your existing team
• Early identification of issues: Spot and address problems before they impact results
• Better resource management: More predictable call patterns mean better staffing

For the Business

• Increased productivity: Make 200-300% more calls in the same amount of time
• Enhanced scalability: Easily handle larger call volumes
• Improved reporting: Get detailed insights into performance
• Better ROI: More successful outcomes from the same team size

Real Success Stories

From Cherry-Picking to Consistent Results with Automated Dialling

A property services platform, who now use MaxContact, were previously using Salesforce with manual click-to-dial functionality. Their team would meticulously scan through records, cherry-picking leads based on subjective criteria, which created inconsistency in approach and results.

After implementing MaxContact:

• 40% more conversations with prospects
• 4 hours of pure talk time vs. previous 4 hours that included voicemails and dialling
• 80% contact rate – significantly higher than with manual dialling
• Consistent approach across the entire team

STA International: Boosting Debt Collection Performance

STA International, a leading debt collection agency with over 65 years of experience, needed a reliable contact centre solution that could maximise contact rates while maintaining compliance.

After implementing MaxContact:

• Contact rates increased from 7.5% to 18%
• 10% increase in overall contact rates
• 6% improvement in team productivity
• Year-on-year call reduction rates

The combination of predictive and progressive dialling capabilities transformed their operations, allowing them to speak with more people and collect debt more effectively.

Kandoo Car Credit: Scaling with Efficiency

Kandoo Car Credit, a UK-based car finance broker, was hampered by manual dialling limitations and inefficient call routing. After implementing MaxContact, they achieved:

• Operational efficiency by replacing manual processes with automated workflows
• 146% team scaling capacity without proportional increase in overhead
• Over 2,000 daily calls while maintaining excellent customer experience

The Bottom Line

Transitioning from manual to automated dialling isn’t just about technology – it’s about empowering your team to work smarter, not harder. When implemented with a focus on your specific needs and concerns, automated dialling can transform your outbound operation’s performance.

You can have more conversations with the right people in the best order to achieve your goals, whether that’s closing more deals, collecting more debt, or providing better customer service. All while knowing that reporting and compliance are automatically and easily covered.

The key is partnership. At MaxContact, we don’t just provide technology and walk away. We work with you to understand your unique challenges, configure MaxContact to meet your goals, and support you every step of the way.

Our platform provides:

• Progressive, predictive, and preview dialling modes to match your specific needs
• Intelligent contact strategies to target more effectively
• Skills-based routing for outbound calls
• Answer machine detection with over 90% accuracy
• Comprehensive reporting for continuous improvement

Ready to take the first step? Contact us today to schedule a discovery call and learn how we can help your team reach its full potential.

‍

We’ve recently launched our “Voice of the Consumer” research at MaxContact, and the results offer clear insights into what UK customers actually want when they interact with contact centres in 2025. We surveyed over 1,000 UK consumers in February 2025 who had interacted with contact centres in the last 18 months, and their responses paint a vivid picture of current expectations.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: Customer Experience Matters

Our research uncovered some eye-opening statistics that should make every contact centre leader take notice:

• 42% of consumers have already switched providers because of poor contact centre experiences, and another 38% have seriously considered it
• More than half (55%) abandon calls when wait times get too long
• 70% still want to talk to a real person when explaining specific situations
• Young adults (25-34) embrace AI at more than double the rate of those over 55

These numbers show the direct link between contact centre performance and customer retention. Every abandoned call represents potential lost revenue.

AI Adoption: A Clear Generation Gap

Our survey shows 45% of consumers feel comfortable with AI chatbots and virtual assistants, while 36% remain uncomfortable. But dig deeper and you’ll find significant demographic differences:

• 65% of 25-34 year olds feel comfortable with AI tools
• Only 27% of over-55s share that comfort level
• Men show higher AI acceptance than women (48% vs. 41%)
• Urban consumers adapt to AI more readily than rural customers

“Contact centres need to recognise these demographic differences when implementing AI solutions,” says Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact. “Your customer base should directly influence your technology deployment strategy.”

The data suggests contact centres should:

1. Use AI for what it does best – handling routine enquiries, gathering initial information, and routing conversations
2. Create clear pathways to human agents when customers need them
3. Be upfront about when customers are talking to AI systems
4. Consider using AI behind the scenes to support agents rather than focusing solely on customer-facing bots, especially with older demographics

Humans Still Win Where It Matters Most

Despite advances in AI and automation, customers overwhelmingly want human agents for certain situations:

• 70% prefer humans when explaining unique situations
• 67% want a person during emergencies
• 65% choose humans for complex account questions
• 61% want real people when making complaints

Interestingly, fewer consumers (47%) insist on human interaction for payment arrangements, and only 41% prefer humans when discussing financial difficulties.

“Your agents remain your most valuable resource,” notes Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact. “The key is deploying them where they add the most value while automating routine transactions that don’t require human judgement or empathy.”

Channel Selection: Right Tool for the Right Job

Consumers have clear preferences about how they want to be contacted:

• Phone calls dominate for urgent matters (67% prefer this channel)
• Email is the top choice for initial outbound contact (53%)
• For account updates, email (39%) outperforms phone calls (26%)
• Phone remains the fastest resolution channel (60%)

What’s surprising? WhatsApp and social media ranked low across all scenarios, suggesting these channels work better as supplements rather than primary contact methods in most industries.

For contact centre workforce management, these findings highlight the need for skilled phone agents supported by robust email response systems, with chat and social media as secondary channels.

Customer Loyalty Hangs in the Balance

The data on customer switching behavior is particularly concerning:

• 42% have switched providers after poor contact centre experiences
• 17% have switched multiple times
• Among 25-34 year olds, 60% have switched providers

“Contact centre quality directly impacts your bottom line,” explains Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact. “When customers switch providers, they take their lifetime value with them.”

What Builds Customer Trust?

Consumers identified several key factors that establish trust:

1. Agents who truly understand their needs (49%)
2. Clear identification and purpose (42%)
3. Professional communication style (42%)
4. Agents empowered to make decisions (35%)

Technical reliability emerged as another crucial factor, with 27% of respondents reporting frequent disconnections during calls. Your CCaaS platform needs rock-solid uptime and call quality metrics to avoid this common frustration.

Five Focus Areas for Contact Centre Leaders

Based on our research, we recommend contact centres prioritise:

1. Smart technology allocation – Deploy IVR, chatbots and self-service portals for routine transactions while reserving agent time for complex issues
2. Queue management – Use callback options, accurate wait time estimates, and workforce management tools to minimise hold times
3. Channel strategy – Align communication channels with message type and demographic preferences
4. Agent enablement – Equip your team with knowledge bases, CRM integration, and decision-making authority
5. Continuous feedback loops – Implement speech analytics, post-call surveys, and structured quality monitoring

Want more insights? The complete “Voice of the Consumer” report includes detailed breakdowns by age, gender, and region, along with practical recommendations for contact centre operations. Access your free copy here.

About MaxContact

MaxContact’s cloud contact centre platform helps you manage more conversations, improve customer experience, and make data-driven decisions. Our platform seamlessly blends outbound, inbound and omnichannel functionality, providing AI-enhanced insights that help you deliver the efficient, personalised interactions customers expect in 2025.

For more information, speak to one of our experts.

‍

Every salesperson has heard them before:

❌ “How did you get my number?”
❌ “No, I’m not interested.”
❌ “I’m already with [competitor].”

Everyone who works in the industry knows that sales objections are inevitable. Particularly if you work in a high-pressure environment like a call centre where agents handle hundreds of calls every day.

It’s easy to view objections as a rejection, but they should be viewed as opportunities. Objection handling is a chance to address concerns, show value, and build stronger customer relationships.

“When I first started in sales, the biggest challenge wasn’t hearing objections, it was knowing how to respond instead of just saying ‘Oh right, OK’ and ending the call.” – Business Development Manager

However, mastering objection handling doesn’t come down to persistence alone; it’s about having the right tools, techniques, and insights to guide conversations, understand prospect needs, and ultimately, improve conversions.

In this article, we’ll explore:

• Proven objection-handling techniques that empower sales teams.
• How AI-driven insights from MaxContact’s Success Intelligence and Spokn AI can improve objection-handling strategies.
• Why is objection handling critical to sales success?

It builds confidence within your sales team

• The more a salesperson feels equipped and confident to handle objections, the better they are likely to perform.
• When a sales team adopts the mentality that objections don’t mean the end of a conversation, they are more likely to find ways to quickly adapt and refine their sales approach instead of cutting their losses.

It improves conversion rates

• Many objections salespeople come across aren’t rejections at all; they’re actually customers who feel they are missing key information and they need to alleviate the underlying concerns they have about the product or service.
• Listening to and addressing these objections effectively by being prepared with the right information can turn conversations around, making hesitant prospects new customers.

It strengthens team performance

• The most successful sales teams share best practices rather than keep them to themselves. They learn from each other’s handling techniques and replicate the best strategies across the team.
• MaxContact’s Success Intelligence helps sales leaders identify patterns in objections, so they can deliver targeted coaching to their teams or individuals.

It creates better customer experiences

• Even if a sale doesn’t happen immediately (the majority don’t), a well-handled objection and respectful interaction builds trust, increasing the likelihood of a conversion further down the line.
• A professional, well-trained response leaves a positive impression, which means when things change in the future, they are more likely to consider you and get back in touch.

Objection handling techniques for sales calls

1. Be prepared with a decent script

Why? A structured script helps your sales team be consistent and shows agents what good looks like. It is also easier to refine your approach and build agent confidence when handling objections.

Top Tip: You should regularly review and update your call scripts to mirror common objections. Refinements should be based on real-world responses and positive past outcomes.

Want ready-to-use objection-handling scripts? Download our Scripting Templates for Dealing with Difficult Customers to train your team with proven responses.

2. Anticipate and address objections before the call

Why? Proactively addressing potential concerns reduces resistance later in the conversation.

How? Do your research before the call and think about what their objections are likely to be. Proactively prepare solutions to common objections (price, timing, competitors) and address them in your pitch before the prospect raises them.

3. Focus on building value

Why? If you can confidently demonstrate how your product or service meets your prospect’s unique needs, it paves the way for a conversation with fewer objections to overcome.

How? Tailor your sales pitch so it addresses their specific pain points and priorities to make the benefits more relevant and persuasive.

4. Uncover the real concerns behind the objection

Why? Surface-level objections can often mask deeper customer concerns.

How? Use probing questions to encourage the customer to open up and really listen to what they have to say:

“What are your biggest challenges with your current system?”
“What keeps you up at night about this issue?”
“What does a good day vs. a bad day look like?”

Sales Specialist Insight: “Ask and then be quiet and listen. If you can keep the conversation going, you’ll build rapport, understand their needs, and have a better chance of addressing their true concerns.

5. Know when to cut your losses

Why? It’s a skill in itself to realise that not every prospect is worth pursuing. At the end of the day, your time is a valuable resource.

How? Learn to recognise the signs that an objection is a hard “no” rather than a request for reassurance. Feel comfortable to politely bring the conversation to a close when it’s necessary.

Example: What does a ‘hard no’ sound like?

Agent: “I think our solution can really help you with [pain point]. Are you free for a quick call next week?”

Prospect: “Well, we’ve actually just signed a five-year contract with another provider, so we’re locked in with them.”

Agent: “Oh ok, sounds like you’re set for now, but I’d like to stay in touch in case your needs change in the future. Would you be happy for me to check back in with you in a few months to see how everything is going?”

Instead of pushing further, the agent sees that this isn’t a timing objection, it’s a contractual commitment. Instead they:

• Respect the prospect’s situation and don’t waste time.
• Keep the door open for future conversations.
• Avoid the hard-sell approach which could damage the relationship.

6. Understand it’s a numbers game

Why? Not every call ends with a sale, but persistence and efficiency are part of what drives success.

How? It’s important that sales agents don’t get hung up on rejections. Call volume and quality interactions are key, so the best thing to do is move on to the next prospect.

Top Tip: Use automated dialler software to improve connection rates and reduce wasted time. Skills-based call routing can also help to match the right agents to potential opportunities to match their knowledge and experience.

Objection handling cheat sheet

How AI-driven insights take objection handling to the next level

Even with the best training and techniques, sales teams consistently struggle to handle objections over the phone. Without a way to track and analyse objections on a bigger scale, it’s difficult to know where agents can improve or identify which strategies are working.

And that’s where our speech analytics platform adds value.

MaxContact’s Spokn AI & Success Intelligence: Turning Insights into Sales Success

Traditionally, sales coaching relies on manual call reviews, which are time-consuming and only capture a small percentage of conversations.

But with Spokn AI and Success Intelligence, sales teams can now use post-call insights and AI-powered analytics to enhance objection handling across teams.

Here’s how it is used in call centres.

Spokn AI: Speech analytics that goes beyond transcription

• Transcribe and analyse 100% of calls with Spokn AI. Instead of analysing small call samples taken at random, you can search and analyse a higher volume of calls, so fewer objections go unnoticed.
• Identify trends in objections and understand the most common customer concerns within your sales process.
• Track sentiment and review call summaries to explore where or when conversations take a negative turn.
• Use AI-powered analytics to enhance coaching with data-backed insights that help agents improve faster.

Success Intelligence: AI that measures & improves objection handling

• Categorise and analyse objections and help agents refine their approach.
• Identify what top performers do differently to overcome objections and use it as a blueprint for coaching agents who struggle.
• Provide actionable insights based on performance trends and data, not just opinions based on limited call samples.

“Success Intelligence highlights your best-performing agents and allows you to compare them with lesser-performing agents to see where improvements can be made. Instead of just reviewing a handful of calls, we now have insights into every objection raised and whether or not it was handled effectively.”

Ready to handle objections in sales the smarter way?

Handling objections is more than just a desirable sales skill; it’s a competitive advantage.

The best sales teams:

✔ Use structured scripts and refined techniques.
✔ Stay adaptive and customer-focused.
✔ Use AI-driven insights to continuously improve strategies.

Want to see these techniques in action? Book a free demo of MaxContact’s Spokn AI and Success Intelligence to see how AI-powered insights can improve your sales team’s objection handling.

‍

A Significant Achievement

This recognition places us among an elite group of 50 Emerging Stars, selected from an initial pool of over 6,000 companies. With only 825 meeting the strict eligibility criteria in a challenging economic climate, this award reflects our team’s commitment to innovation and excellence.

Our Winning Performance

Megabuyte’s assessment highlighted our strong market position:

“Despite experiencing some softness in sectors like energy and longer sales cycles in recent years, MaxContact has maintained c. 30% revenue growth, ahead of most other vendors in the contact centre software market. A key proponent of this is its conversational AI product strategy, with AI-enabled products featuring in 80%+ of deals.”

Moving Forward

This award validates our strategic direction and focus on delivering innovative solutions that address real customer needs. Our investment in conversational AI technology, Spokn AI, continues to drive our success and differentiate us in the market.

We remain committed to supporting our 100+ UK customers across BPO, communications, financial services, utilities, and retail sectors with solutions that enhance their customer engagement capabilities.

We’d like to thank our dedicated team, partners and valued customers for their ongoing support and confidence in MaxContact.

About Megabuyte

Megabuyte supports UK scale-up and mid-market software & ICT Services companies to develop robust growth strategies, understand their competitive landscape and customer sentiment, benchmark their financial performance and valuation, and identify and track M&A targets. They provide proprietary insights and data through their subscription research service, offer packaged consulting services, and give access to their network of some 500 tech sector CEOs through events and their expert network.

About the Emerging Stars Awards

The Emerging Stars awards are part of the Megabuyte100 award series which collectively celebrate the 100 best-performing technology companies in the UK. The awards identify the UK’s best-performing technology scale-ups as defined by Megabuyte’s proprietary Scorecard methodology, complemented by expert qualitative insights from their analysts. Evaluation criteria encompass factors such as size, growth, and margins, highlighting the top 50 best-performing scale-up companies in the UK.

Learn More

For further information about the 2025 Megabuyte Emerging Stars Awards and to see the complete list of winners, click here to access the full Megabuyte report.

Here’s to continued success and innovation throughout 2025!

‍