UK consumers shun cold calls without trust signals

MaxContact has published research suggesting UK consumers are unlikely to answer unsolicited business calls without prior trust signals. The findings point to a shift in how outbound calling works in contact centres.

The company's Voice of the UK Consumer 2026 study surveyed 1,000 UK adults who had interacted with a company contact centre in the previous 18 months. It found that 82% of respondents would be more likely to answer if caller ID clearly showed the company name, 80.5% if they received a pre-call text or email, and 87% if they were expecting the call.

The results suggest the traditional cold call is losing ground as consumers become more cautious about unknown numbers. The study links that caution to scam activity, spam calls and broader awareness of digital risks.

Rather than serving as the first point of contact, the phone call is increasingly becoming the final step in a longer communication chain. In that model, companies are expected to establish recognition and context before an agent tries to speak to a customer.

Trust signals

For contact centres, that means pre-call texts or emails, branded caller ID and number reputation management are becoming more central to outbound strategy. The aim is to give recipients a reason to recognise the caller and understand why contact is being made before the phone rings.

The report argues that this is not only an operational issue but also a measurement problem. Businesses should reconsider how they assess outbound performance, especially where headline answer-rate data may conceal a broader pattern of customer avoidance.

One recommendation is to audit the "avoidance score", which it defines as a measure of how many consumers actively choose not to answer calls from a sector or company. Businesses, it argues, should separate customers who will never engage from those who may answer if they receive enough reassurance in advance.

That approach would move contact centres away from using total avoidance as a simple benchmark. It would also frame gains in answer rates as gradual improvements among reachable customers, rather than a broad reversal in consumer reluctance.

According to the report, some people will continue to ignore outbound calls regardless of the approach used. But a meaningful share of consumers may still engage if businesses provide enough information and recognition before making contact.

Ben Booth, chief executive officer at MaxContact, commented on the findings.

"Cold calling in its traditional sense is becoming less effective because consumers are no longer willing to take the risk of answering unknown calls. They want reassurance before they engage, and because there are so many scams and fake callers out there, we need to recognise that in many cases, those customers are doing the right thing to keep themselves safe," Booth said.

He said the findings should prompt a broader rethink of outbound contact strategy.

"With that in mind, we need to change our outbound strategies. It's no longer about how many numbers you can dial. It's about how many customers are willing to connect and how prepared they are when the phone rings. The contact centres seeing the best results are the ones making sure they are recognisable before they call, giving customers a clear reason to engage, and measuring success based on meaningful conversations, not just attempts," Booth said.

His comments reflect a wider challenge for businesses that still rely on outbound telephony for collections, service updates, sales and customer support. If customers increasingly screen unknown calls, companies may need to spend more on the communication steps that happen before an agent makes direct contact.

That could also affect how managers judge returns from outbound operations. If contact rates depend less on dial volume and more on prior customer recognition, traditional productivity measures may become less useful on their own.

For sectors where urgent customer contact matters, the findings add pressure to make calls identifiable and expected. "Outbound calls still work, but only when the pre-engagement work has already been done. If you are not giving customers a reason to expect your call, you are unlikely to get through to them," Booth said.