I used to spend the first forty minutes of every new client meeting asking the same twelve questions. What do you sell, who buys it, what have you tried, what does success look like. Necessary questions. Terrible use of a meeting.
So I designed a form to ask them first. This is it.
The situation
New clients would arrive excited and unprepared, which is not a criticism, it is just how it goes. Without the basics on paper, quotes were slower, scope drifted, and I would sometimes discover on week three that the "quick website refresh" also needed to talk to a booking system nobody mentioned.
What I built
A two page intake form that lives in the proposal package. It is designed to be pleasant to fill in, which most forms are not. The sections:
- The business in three sentences. Forces clarity early.
- Who you are trying to reach. With examples, so nobody writes "everyone."
- What already exists. Website, socials, tools, logins. The archaeology section.
- What done looks like. Not features. Outcomes. "Phone rings more" is a valid answer.
- Constraints. Budget range, deadlines, the thing your business partner will veto.
Visually it matches the rest of the proposal: clean grid, big labels, room to write. It looks like something worth ten minutes of your time, so people give it ten minutes.
Why it works
First meetings now start at the interesting part. I arrive having already read the answers, so we spend the time on strategy instead of inventory. Quotes go out faster and land closer to the final invoice, because the surprises got surfaced on page two of a form instead of week three of a build.
The takeaway for your business
Whatever you sell, list the questions you ask every single new customer. Put them on one well-designed page. Send it before the meeting. You just gave yourself back the first half hour of every sale.
Want something like this for your business?
Better questions make better projects. If your onboarding is a series of back-and-forth emails, let me design the form that replaces them.
Book a free 20 minute chat or browse more case studies. No retainers, no account managers, no mystery invoices.
