Unlocking the Power of Custom GPTs: A Game-Changer for SMEs

Digital assistants right at your finger-tips? It’s true. If you’re an SME with digital information, you’re ready to create and launch digital assistants for your staff and customers. And you don’t need an army of software engineers or computer scientists to do it.

Imagine, a digital assistant who knows everything about your company, works around the clock, and can instantly provide solutions, support, and insights to both employees and customers. That's what you get with Custom GPTs - once reserved for tech giants, now accessible and affordable for small and medium-sized enterprises like you.

What is a Custom GPT?

A Custom GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is an AI-driven assistant built specifically for your business, fine-tuned with your data and programmed to respond to your specific needs. Unlike a generic AI chatbot, a Custom GPT integrates proprietary knowledge from your organization’s documents and processes, delivering answers that are accurate, relevant, and informed. Here’s how it differs from standard GPT models:

·      Fine-Tuning with Your Data: Custom GPTs are trained (or “fine-tuned”) with your company’s internal information (data, documents, images), giving it both domain-specific and company-specific knowledge. Imagine it as a new hire who has studied every relevant report, policy, and protocol in your company, is expert in your products and services, has learned everything about all your customers, and knows your competitors cold.

·      Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Your Custom GPT will search your proprietary index, retrieving relevant documents and incorporating specific information into its answers. It’s like having a specialized researcher who not only answers questions but references trusted sources and even gives citations.

With these core features, Custom GPTs bring a level of reliability and specificity that surpasses generic AI models. In a word, trust – you can trust your custom GPTs.

 Who Uses Custom GPTs?

 Anyone and everyone can use Custom GPTs, but you decide. With simple tailoring of permissions and access to information, custom GPTs can perform narrow or broad tasks for internal teams to external customers. Custom GPTs are almost infinitely versatile:

·      Internal Teams (Employees): Employees from different departments can rely on Custom GPTs for specific insights. For instance, HR teams might use it to answer policy questions, while engineering teams might consult it for technical product details.

·      External Support (Contractors and Customer Service): Contractors and customer service agents can leverage a Custom GPT with permissions-based access, providing consistent and accurate responses to client questions.

·      Customer Access: Customers can use a Custom GPT to manage their accounts, access product information, or resolve support issues independently.

A single GPT with employee specific permissions and access will let an HR manager ask the GPT about policies, while a product engineer queries technical specifications. Each employee receives answers in a style that matches their expertise - a personal assistant that speaks their language. And the HR manager can draw on information in an employee file, but the engineer’s version of the custom GPT has no access to that file.

Imagine a boutique shop using a custom GPT to handle customer inquiries like store hours, return policies and product details, saving time for staff to focus on in-store customers.

Key Features of Custom GPTs

Creating a Custom GPT isn’t just about plugging in data - it’s about crafting a smart assistant equipped with functions that suit your unique business needs. Here are the must-have features:

1.     Multi-Voice Functionality: Speak to Different Audiences - A Custom GPT wears different hats depending on whom it’s speaking to - a technical expert one moment, a friendly customer service rep the next. Standard variations include:

a.     Expert Voice: Designed for employees who need in-depth, technical details. This “voice” draws from detailed data sources, such as manuals or patents.

b.     Layperson Voice: Simplified explanations for non-technical users, emphasizing actionable advice.

c.     Customer Service Voice: Polished to guide customers through complex questions, confirm satisfaction, and encourage engagement.

2.     Data Sources: Deep Wells of Knowledge - Think of your Custom GPT as an explorer with a map to every relevant knowledge source in your company, ready to deliver precise information on demand.

a.     Custom GPTs pull from your specific knowledge base, from user manuals and product specs to training materials and marketing collateral.

b.     Data sources can include anything from CRM data, internal documents, quality protocols, to competitive intelligence.

3.     Custom LLM Development: Tailored Learning - This is like sending your GPT to school, and then signing it up for refresher courses now and then - it stays sharp, relevant, and ready to answer new challenges.

a.     Fine-tune the GPT with your data, allowing it to become an expert in your business's language, products, and services.

b.     Schedule periodic fine-tuning to keep the GPT updated with the latest business developments.

4.     Enterprise Search & Indexing: Find What Matters - If it’s digital, it’s accessible. Imagine, every document, email, and product manual in your company, neatly organized and instantly searchable by the GPT. That’s how it works.

a.     Integrate third-party search tools to index your company’s data, enabling keyword and semantic search.

b.     A Custom GPT can search internal databases and external sources to retrieve relevant information in real-time, supporting complex queries.

5.     Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Precision Information with Citations - With RAG, your Custom GPT isn’t just answering questions; it’s guiding users through verified sources with confidence.

a.     RAG enhances response accuracy by anchoring answers in real, cited documents, ensuring responses are backed by fact, not just generated text.

b.     Top enterprise-search vendors also offer RAG platforms, creating responses that are not only accurate but can link directly back to source documents.

Building Your Custom GPT: A Roadmap for SMEs

Creating a Custom GPT might sound complex, but it’s not. This roadmap makes it doable for any SME:

1.     Needs Assessment: Set Your Goals – Your business goals become the blueprint for your Custom GPT. Design parameters like permissions and access follow easily from well-defined business goals.

a.     Determine where Custom GPTs can fill gaps in business processes, like streamlining customer support or centralizing information access.

b.     Survey your team to identify critical information bottlenecks.

2.     Vendor Selection: Choose Partners who can Fill in the Gaps ­– There are numerous excellent SaaS vendors to work with on the foundation components of (1) enterprise search, (2) RAG, and (3) LLMs. Depending on your in-house dedicated resources for creating and managing custom GPTs, these vendors can provide more or less support. Unlike traditional AI systems, Custom GPTs are designed to be implemented with minimal technical resources, making them a practical and affordable option for SMEs. Selecting the right tools and partners is like choosing the right building materials for a solid, lasting foundation.

a.     Evaluate LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Cohere, and others are all excellent options) and select a RAG or enterprise search provider with strong integration options (such a Squirro, Sinequa, Glean, Mindbreeze, and others)

b.     Pick vendors whose systems connect with your SaaS data sources (most importantly, CRM, HR, finance). Most Search/RAG vendors have at least one hundred connectors to the leading SaaS vendors for CRM, HR, and finance so finding a compatible partner is usually not a problem

3.     Data Collection: Gather Your Knowledge - Picture a library of knowledge - each piece of data neatly cataloged and ready for the GPT to pull from when needed.

a.     Identify internal and external repositories for relevant documents, ensuring these are accessible and indexable.

b.     Create a system for regularly updating and organizing this information.

4.     Fine-Tuning & Development: Shape the GPT’s Intelligence - Fine-tuning is like teaching a new employee the ropes. Over time, it becomes more aligned with your company's expertise.

a.     Decide on a fine-tuning schedule based on how frequently your information changes, ensuring the GPT stays up-to-date.

b.     Test its accuracy with internal experts to refine the model’s performance.

5.     Testing & Feedback with Demo-Beta Version: Involve Your Team - A demo-beta version is like a soft opening for your GPT, letting users test its abilities and imagine its full potential.

a.     Launch a demo-beta version, even with limited data, to collect user feedback.

b.     Encourage team members to experiment and offer suggestions for improvement.

 Take the Leap into AI-Powered Business

 For SMEs, common challenges like handling repetitive inquiries, centralizing fragmented information, and maximizing employee productivity can be addressed effectively with Custom GPTs. These AI assistants are purpose-built to manage and streamline tasks, freeing up valuable time and resources

 Building a Custom GPT for your SME isn’t just a tech project; it’s an investment in your business’s future, a way to enhance productivity, empower employees, and elevate customer experiences. With a few strategic steps and the right partners, creating a Custom GPT is well within reach - and the competitive advantages are real. So, are you ready to make your business smarter, faster, and more efficient? Take the leap, and give your team a tool that puts every piece of information right at their fingertips.

 Ready to explore what a Custom GPT could do for your business? Start by checking out demo versions from AI providers, or consider a consultation with us to assess your specific needs. This small step could lead to big transformations for your SME