Coaches
Direct answer
Coach and tutor guides cover the intro call, the inbox, and the enquiry that arrives by email or a form. A booking page is the diary. Lead capture needs a consent tick before marketing mail. Social posts may describe a session only in words you can say in public. Meeting notes become your tasks, not a transcript you publish.
Coaches and tutors whose enquiries arrive by Instagram and email, and whose diary is the product.
An intro call should land on a booking page, not in a ten-message thread. The agent can draft the reply that sends the link and asks what they want help with.
Be careful with testimonials. A model will invent a glowing sentence if you ask for "social proof". Use words a client actually sent you, with their permission.
Playbooks that fit
- Meeting and job schedulingChatGPT30–45 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
A scheduling agent that does not touch the calendar
Set up a free Google Calendar appointment page so people book a real gap in your diary, then use ChatGPT only to draft the reply that sends the link. Do not let an agent create events from incoming email without you. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageGeminiAbout 30 minutes, once the button is visibleAbout £4 and £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
AI email assistant in Gmail with Gemini
Help me write inside Gmail is an email assistant only if the account has it. Google lists it as global on eligible paid plans and US-only on unpaid personal Gmail. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. You still send. This has not been live-tested.
- AI receptionist and missed callsSmith.aiAbout an hour, plus test calls£0 for 25 real calls, then about £2 a call/mo
AI receptionist for a small business with Smith.ai
Smith.ai can answer a small business line on a free plan of 25 calls, then stop. The script takes a name, a number, and the job. It does not quote a price or promise a visit. Confirm callers can reach a normal UK number before you divert. This page has not been live-tested.
- Meeting and job schedulingCalendlyAbout 45 minutes£0 on the free plan/mo
Appointment booking with a Calendly link
Appointment booking for a small business should be a page of real gaps, not a chat that invents a time. Calendly's free plan, on 25 October 2026, was one event type and one calendar. You send a link. An agent may draft that email. It must not create events. This setup has not been live-tested.
- Lead capture to a CRMZapier45–75 minutesabout £0, or about £15 if you need multi-step Zaps/mo
Capture leads in a sheet with a two-step Zap
Send a short enquiry form into a Google Sheet with a two-step Zapier automation, which fits the free plan. Reply yourself the same day. Add people to a marketing list only if they ticked a box that was not pre-selected. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageChatGPT45–90 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
Email triage for a small Gmail inbox with ChatGPT
Use Gmail labels and filters to sort a small inbox, then a ChatGPT Project to draft replies you still send yourself. It fits a sole trader under about fifty messages a day. Do not give the agent permission to send. This setup has not been timed in a live test.
- Meeting notes into tasksGeminiOne sitting, on a call that is not with a clientAbout £4 or £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
Google Meet notes turned into tasks
Turn a Google Meet into tasks only if Take notes for me is on an eligible plan, then copy the actions you accept into a private sheet. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. The Meet-notes ticks were blank in the saved text. This has not been live-tested.
- Meeting notes into tasksFathomAbout 45 minutes before the first call£0 on the free plan/mo
Meeting notes turned into tasks with Fathom
Turn meeting notes into tasks by recording only with consent, copying Fathom's free summary into a private sheet, and writing the actions yourself. On 25 October 2026, AI action items were a Premium feature, not part of Free. You still check any list a paid plan writes. This page has not been live-tested.
- Social post repurposingClaude20–40 minutes for the first note, then lessabout £0–£15/mo
Repurpose one work note into social posts with Claude
Take one true note about finished work and ask Claude for a Google Business post, an Instagram caption, and a short LinkedIn post. You approve every word and you only use photos you have the right to publish. Nothing is auto-posted. Not live-tested yet.
- AI receptionist and missed callsSmith.aiHalf an hour to read the pricing tableabout £113 a month for 75 real calls/mo
Smith.ai answering service: what a call costs
Smith.ai's answering bill is a bundle of real calls, not a flat receptionist wage. On 25 October 2026 Free was $0 for 25 real calls and Pro started at $150 a month for 75. Extra calls and spam rules change the invoice. Read them before you divert. This buying guide has not been live-tested.
Questions
Can I record every coaching call?
Only with consent, and only if you need the recording. The meeting-notes playbook says to tell the other person a notetaker is in the call. Do not publish the transcript.
Is a chatbot a good front door?
A booking link is the better front door. A chat widget is for questions you have already written down, and it should hand you anything personal.
Which playbook is the booking one?
Calendly, or the Google Calendar version. One diary writer, not both.