24. Scaling student support with CustomGPTs (without sacrificing the experience) with Kirsty Fanton & Ami Williamson

In this episode, I am joined by CommsCamp founder Kirsty Fanton and her behind-the-scenes tech partner Ami Williamson to unpack how they built CommsBot, a custom GPT designed to give students real-time, tailored support inside a group coaching program.

It’s an answer to a question by my guest expert in episode 19, PR and visibility expert Gloria Chou:

“With so many coaches adding custom GPTs to their group programs, how do you balance the benefit of getting your student better results with the risk of making the experience more impersonal?”

Together, we explore how to make AI work for your customer experience, without making it feel robotic or like a shortcut. From ethical considerations to feature planning and student testing, this episode walks through the full behind-the-scenes of a thoughtful, human-first approach to integrating AI into your program or membership.

What we cover:

• The real “why” behind CommsBot – How they used audience insights to spot a clear gap between “learning” and “doing,” and how the bot helps students practice communication in a safe, low-stakes way.
• How to avoid building a robot version of yourself – Why the goal isn’t to clone the coach, but to create a guided concierge-style support tool that amplifies what students are already learning from you.
• The three core functions of CommsBot – Understanding, Implementing, and Role-Playing—and why each mode was intentionally designed to align with different stages of the student journey.
• Behind the scenes of building the bot – How Kirsty and Ami worked together to train the GPT using transcripts, frameworks, and internal language from the course—and avoided overwhelming the bot with the wrong kind of data.
• AI ethics and privacy considerations – What they did to protect Kirsty’s intellectual property, set clear boundaries for the GPT, and build trust with students using the tool.

Connect with my guests:

Kirsty is an ex-psychotherapist, ex-copywriter, and ex-pert communicator who helps online business owners hear and get heard when it matters most - in their emails, on their socials, with their clients, with their teams, and on podcasts like this one.

Website: https://www.kirstyfanton.com

CommsCamp: https://www.kirstyfanton.com/commscamp

Ami is the AI-obsessed copywriter behind Damn Write — where she helps fellow chaotic creatives turn their “too much” or “too weird” into a brand, a bot + a biz that feels like a revelation.

And when she’s not conjuring up Brand Bibles and sales copy, she’s deep in the AI underworld: building custom GPT bots for course creators who wanna scale without selling their souls.

Website: https://www.damnwrite.com.au/

Ami's Custom AI Course Bot Service: https://www.damnwrite.com.au/ai-course-bots

View the episode transcript here.

Where to from here?

Check out the resources I mention (affiliate links):

Drip

Bonjoro (save 15% for the lifetime of your paid plan!)

Convertbox

Thrivecart

Airtable

Zapier

Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here.

Grab the FREE State of the Customer online business industry report with first-hand findings, gaps & opportunities PLUS proven strategies to boost your customer experience. Download FREE here!

Join Retention Lab 🧪, the membership for savvy online business owners determined to grow their revenue, referrals and repeat business without more marketing. Join here!

Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here.

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