| Category | Client Onboarding |
|---|---|
| Time to Run | 15 min |
| Difficulty | Standard |
| Output | Template |
| Client-Facing | Yes — goes directly to client |
You've signed a new client and the kickoff is coming, but you need structured information before that first session. Not a generic onboarding form — a questionnaire tailored to this engagement type that gathers exactly what you need to show up prepared. Without it, you spend the first 30 minutes of the kickoff asking questions you could have asked in advance.
Run this when you need to gather structured information from a new client before the first working session. The questionnaire adapts to your engagement type and industry context, asking the right questions in the right order so the client's responses give you a head start on the work instead of just background reading.
Copy the code block below and save it as a .md file. Upload it to Claude as a Project Knowledge file or attach it directly to a conversation. Then provide the inputs listed above and Claude will generate your client intake questionnaire.
---
name: client-intake-questionnaire-builder
description: Generates a structured client-facing intake questionnaire tailored to the engagement type and industry — triggered when you need to gather information from a new client before the first working session.
metadata:
author: "Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders"
version: "1.0.0"
date: "2026-04-25"
---
# Client Intake Questionnaire Builder
Generates a client-facing intake questionnaire that gathers the right pre-engagement information, structured by engagement type and industry context.
**Core Principle: Ask questions that change what you do, not questions that fill a form. Every question in the intake must produce information you'll act on in the first 30 days. If you can't name what you'd do differently based on the answer, cut the question.**
## What This Skill Does
**Job 1: Question Engineering** — Takes the user's list of "what I need to know" and converts each item into a well-structured question that produces actionable answers. "Tell me about your team" is a bad intake question. "List the 3 people most involved in [engagement area], their roles, and how long they've been in those roles" produces data you can use.
**Job 2: Sequencing** — Orders the questions from easy/factual to harder/reflective. The first few questions should take 30 seconds each. The harder questions come after the client is in a responsive mindset. Bad sequencing — leading with "what are your biggest challenges?" — produces worse answers.
**Job 3: Format Optimization** — Chooses the right question format for each item: short answer for facts, multiple choice for categories, open-ended for context, and scaled ratings for priorities. The format determines the quality of the response.
## Section 1: Welcome and Instructions
Generate a brief introduction (3-4 sentences) that:
- Thanks the client for completing the questionnaire
- States how long it should take (estimate based on question count)
- Explains what happens with their answers ("I'll review these before our first session so we can hit the ground running")
- Sets the tone: professional but not clinical
**Do not** include legal disclaimers, confidentiality notices, or anything that makes this feel like a medical form. It's a professional intake, not a compliance document.
## Section 2: Factual Questions (Company/Context)
Generate 3-5 questions that gather basic facts:
- Company size, structure, or relevant organizational details
- How long they've been operating or in their current state
- The specific area or function the engagement touches
- Key people involved (names, roles, involvement level)
These are warm-up questions. Short answers. No deep thinking required.
**Format:** Short answer or fill-in-the-blank.
## Section 3: Situation Questions (Current State)
Generate 3-5 questions about where things stand today:
- What's working well in the area the engagement covers
- What's not working (specific pain points, not vague frustrations)
- What they've already tried to fix it
- What triggered the decision to bring in outside help now
These questions reveal the context that shapes your approach. The answer to "what have you already tried" is especially valuable — it tells you what solutions are off the table.
**Format:** Open-ended, with word count guidance ("2-3 sentences" or "a brief paragraph").
## Section 4: Priority and Expectation Questions
Generate 2-4 questions about what success looks like:
- Top 3 priorities for the engagement (ranked)
- What "done well" looks like in 90 days
- Any non-negotiables or constraints (budget, timeline, people)
- Anything they explicitly do NOT want changed
This section is where misalignment surfaces before it becomes a problem. If their top priority isn't what you expected from the SOW conversation, you'll know before the kickoff.
**Format:** Mix of ranked lists and open-ended.
## Section 5: Access and Logistics Questions
Generate 2-3 questions about practical requirements:
- Systems, tools, or platforms you'll need access to
- Documents or data they should prepare before the kickoff
- Scheduling preferences or constraints for working sessions
These prevent the first-week scramble of "I still don't have login credentials."
**Format:** Checklist or short answer.
## Section 6: Optional Open-Ended
Include one final question: "Is there anything else you think I should know before we start?" This catches the thing the client wanted to say but didn't have a box for.
## Section 7: What to Skip / What to Watch For
**Leave alone:** Don't ask questions about budget, pricing, or contract terms in the intake. Those are settled. Reopening them here signals disorganization.
**Watch for:** Clients who skip open-ended questions entirely. That's either a client who's too busy (shorten the questionnaire next time) or one who isn't invested in the engagement yet (address it in the kickoff). Also watch for answers that contradict the SOW — if their stated priorities don't match the signed scope, that's a kickoff conversation, not a questionnaire follow-up.
## Quality Check (Internal — never shown to the user)
| # | Check | Pass? |
|---|-------|-------|
| 1 | Can every question's answer change what you do in the first 30 days? (If not, cut it) | |
| 2 | Are the first 3 questions factual and easy (under 30 seconds each)? | |
| 3 | Is the total questionnaire completable in 15-20 minutes? | |
| 4 | Does the format match the question type (short answer for facts, open-ended for context)? | |
| 5 | Is the language industry-appropriate based on the context provided? | |
**Enforcement:** Run all five checks. Identify the weakest section. Rewrite it. Verify the rewrite improved the output. Present only the finished version.
## Rules
- Keep the questionnaire to 12-18 questions total. More than 18 and completion rates drop sharply.
- Every question must use plain language. No jargon, no acronyms without definition, no consultant-speak.
- Include format hints for every open-ended question ("2-3 sentences," "list your top 3," "brief paragraph").
- Order questions from easiest to hardest. Factual first, reflective last.
- Do not ask questions you should already know the answer to from the sales process. If the SOW names the engagement area, don't ask "what area are you looking for help with?"
- Tailor question language to the industry context provided. A wealth management firm gets different phrasing than a technology consultancy.
- Include estimated completion time at the top of the questionnaire.
- End with exactly one open-ended catch-all question.
## Output Format
# [Engagement Type] Intake Questionnaire
**For:** [Client Name / To be filled in]
**Estimated time:** [X] minutes
**Purpose:** To help me prepare for our first session so we can focus on solutions, not background.
---
## About Your Organization
1. [Factual question with format hint]
2. [Factual question with format hint]
3. [Factual question with format hint]
## Current Situation
4. [Situation question with word count guidance]
5. [Situation question with word count guidance]
6. [Situation question with word count guidance]
7. [Situation question with word count guidance]
**Signal:** [What about the engagement type triggers these specific situation questions]
**Do This:** [Review answers before kickoff; flag any contradictions with SOW]
## Priorities and Expectations
8. [Priority question with ranking format]
9. [Expectation question]
10. [Constraint question]
## Access and Logistics
11. [Access question with checklist format]
12. [Logistics question]
## Anything Else
13. Is there anything else you think I should know before we start? (No wrong answers here — even context that seems minor can be helpful.)
---
*Please return this completed questionnaire by [date — to be filled in]. I'll review your responses before our first session.*
## What Makes This Different
Generic intake forms ask the same questions regardless of context and produce responses that sit in a folder unread. This skill builds questionnaires where every question is engineered to produce information that changes your approach in the first 30 days. The sequencing — easy to hard, factual to reflective — is deliberate, because the order you ask questions determines the quality of answers you get. Most intake forms are data collection. This one is engagement preparation.
---
Copyright (c) 2026 Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders
This skill is licensed for your personal and business use. You may run this skill inside your own practice and share the outputs it produces with your team and clients. "Your practice" includes employees and contractors engaged to perform work for your business under your direction — virtual assistants, operations support, bookkeepers, and similar team members.
You may not share, distribute, resell, or repackage the skill file itself — including this SKILL.md document, its prompts, frameworks, and structure — with anyone outside your practice. This includes peer practitioners, other consultants who would use it in their own client work, and anyone outside your operating team. Written permission from Kathryn Brown ([email protected]) is required for any redistribution.
This skill is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied.
Run this and you walk away with a client-ready intake questionnaire with 12-18 questions organized into five sections, complete with format hints, estimated completion time, and a return-by date placeholder. Ready to paste into a Google Doc, PDF, or your preferred form tool and send directly to the client.