Connecting client enquiries to AI safely: a routing guide for Surrey firms

Start with lanes, not tools

Before connecting anything, sort your incoming enquiries into lanes. Each lane gets a different rule for whether an AI tool may see it at all. This is a planning method, not a statement that any set-up satisfies your legal obligations, and you should seek proper advice if you are unsure about those.

Fictional example: Sample Accountancy Ltd

Fictional example. Names and messages are invented.

Imagine an invented practice that gets enquiries from Guildford, Woking and Epsom. They arrive through a website form, a shared inbox and a WhatsApp business number. The practice decides the three channels feed one list, and every item is tagged with a lane before anyone looks at it.

Invented inbound: "Hello, I'm a sole trader in Woking and I'm behind on my paperwork, could someone ring me?" It lands in the new-client lane. The practice strips the sender's name and number, pastes the message into the assistant, and asks for a short, warm reply that asks two questions: what kind of paperwork, and a good time to talk. A person reads, edits and sends.

Set the connection up in this order

1. Pick one channel to begin with. The web form is usually the easiest to control.
2. Decide the fields the form collects, and drop any you do not need to answer the first message.
3. Write the never-paste list: client documents, bank details, passwords, anything from the existing-client lane.
4. Create the lane tags and the person responsible for each.
5. Connect the drafting step to copy-and-paste first. Automate only after weeks of seeing it behave.
6. Add the second channel only when the first has run cleanly.

Handling the mention of a town

Enquiries sometimes mention a Surrey town you do not serve. Write a rule for that, such as "if the town is outside our list, the draft offers the nearest suitable alternative and a person decides." The directory's own coverage is six towns (Guildford, Woking, Epsom, Reigate, Camberley and Farnham), so do not assume your own service area matches it. The rule should reflect where you really work.

Human checks

• A person reads every outbound message. Auto-sending is not part of this guide.
• Weekly, sample ten drafts and mark any that stated something not in your records.
• Review the never-paste list every month and after any staff change.
• Keep a record of who can see which inbox, and remove access when someone leaves.

Acceptance checklist

• Every incoming channel is mapped to a lane.
• Test with ten invented enquiries, including an angry one and one with a missing detail, and confirm each ends up in the right lane.
• No test draft invents a fee, deadline or promise.
• The switch-off step is written down and has been tried.
• Every person or service with access is identified, its role is agreed, and unnecessary access is removed.

Measuring

Count time to first reply, the number of enquiries misrouted to the wrong lane, and the share of drafts you sent unedited. Review monthly. A rising unedited share without a matching rise in careful reading is a warning rather than a success.

Who is behind this page

Dean Keating publishes this directory network from Horndean, Hampshire. He offers live remote AI business coaching, where the client implements. Installation is separately scoped and quoted and is different. This is an affiliated resource, not independent advice. Call 07810 666662 or WhatsApp 07418 627304.