A compliance lead at a financial planning firm has been asked to evaluate a website assistant. The partners like the idea: faster replies, more enquiries captured, less time on routine questions. The compliance lead's question is simpler: how do we make sure it never gives advice?
This guide covers what to look for.
1. It must never give advice
This is the first test. Ask the assistant the questions visitors actually ask, such as whether to transfer a pension or what to invest in, and check that it declines, responds helpfully and offers a meeting. The boundary is explained in where website answers end and regulated advice begins.
2. You control what it learns from
The assistant should answer only from pages you choose. SpideyChat answers from your own website, crawling up to 150 pages. Many firms keep it focused on service, fee, process and contact pages.
3. It hands over to people
Conversations that need an adviser should become tickets with the context attached. You can see handover on the demo.
4. It captures useful context
For each enquiry, it should capture the prospect's name, contact details and what they want help with, without asking for detailed financial information.
5. Data handling is clear
Ask how conversation data is stored and who can see it. Keep clients from sharing sensitive financial details in chat by saying on the website that chat is for general questions only.
6. Honest limits
SpideyChat works on your website only. It does not answer phones or work over messaging apps. It does not connect to client portals or back-office systems, and it holds no regulatory approvals. Firms should review their setup against their own obligations.
7. Plain language
The assistant should reflect your plain-language pages. If your pages are full of jargon, fix them first, as described in adviser website pages that fail nervous first-time clients.
8. Cost
SpideyChat has a free plan, Starter at $9.99 a month and Pro at $29.99 a month, listed on the pricing page.
9. Record keeping
Advice firms often need to keep records of client communications. Check what records the assistant keeps of conversations, how long they are kept and how they can be exported or deleted. Knowing this before launch helps the compliance team decide how website chat fits into the firm's record-keeping approach.
10. Tone of voice
The assistant should sound like the firm: warm, professional and clear. Check that its replies match the tone of your website, and adjust the welcome message and pages if not.
Questions to put to any vendor
- How does it handle questions that ask for advice?
- Which pages does it learn from, and can we restrict them?
- How are conversations handed to advisers?
- Where is conversation data stored?
- What does it cost as enquiries grow?
Other sectors' buying guides
Boutique hotels face a gentler version of the same buying decision, covered in choosing a website assistant for a boutique hotel. A broader overview is in AI chatbot for your website: the complete guide.
11. Updating it as rules change
Rules and products change. Choose an assistant that is easy to retrain when your pages are updated.
Running a controlled trial
Try the assistant on a staging page or a small part of your site first, with a list of test questions reviewed by compliance. SpideyChat for financial advisers can be tested on the free plan.