# Consulting Client Intake Questionnaire: Prepare the First Meeting A consulting client intake questionnaire for your first meeting: adaptable prompts, vague-answer examples, and useful follow-up questions. - Canonical URL: https://www.harmate.com/en/blog/consulting-client-intake-questionnaire - Author: Harmate Team - Published: 2026-10-25 - Updated: 2026-10-25T22:40:35.148878+00:00 - Language: en ## Content # Consulting Client Intake Questionnaire: Prepare the First Meeting A consulting client intake questionnaire sent before the first meeting should help you prepare the conversation. Ask for a concrete situation, the outcome the client needs, and the information already available. Then turn vague answers into useful follow-up questions. The form is neither a diagnosis nor an agreement on the engagement’s scope. This template is for consulting and facilitation inquiries. It is addressed to the person requesting support before the initial discussion. It does not score sales prospects or replace conversations with people affected by the situation. ## Make the form answerable Send the link with a short introduction: “These questions will help us prepare our discussion about [request]. Please use the information you currently have. You can write ‘to discuss together’ where needed; we will explore those points in the meeting.” Explain who will review the answers. Avoid requesting documents containing unnecessary personal information. At this stage, a description of a record and the role responsible for it may be enough. Asking for a complete document library can shift discovery work onto the client before anyone knows which material matters. The French public-sector [CEDIP guidance on organizational diagnosis](https://www.cmvrh.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/le-diagnostic-organisationnel-un-outil-au-service-a5107.html) describes a preliminary discussion to establish whether the intervention is appropriate and clarify the consultant’s role. It is a professional practice reference from that setting, not validation of this questionnaire. The form below prepares such a discussion; it is not presented as a contract. ## An intake template to adapt Order the questions so the client can explain the request. Do not make every field mandatory: an explicit unknown may be exactly what the first conversation needs to address. ### 1. The request in the client’s words **“What would you like support with?”** Keep the original wording even when it names a solution: “run a workshop,” “redesign our process,” or “conduct a survey.” You can explore the underlying situation afterward without silently replacing the request. ### 2. A concrete trigger **“What recent event prompted you to get in touch?”** Optional separate follow-up: “Describe an example we could discuss together.” Do not require the client to identify the cause before you have examined the situation. ### 3. The intended use of the work **“What do you want to be able to do or decide after the engagement?”** This asks about use rather than format. “Have a report” names a deliverable; you still need to understand who will use it and for what purpose. ### 4. Previous attempts **“What have you already tried, if anything?”** Leave room for the client to distinguish observed results from their explanation of those results. An earlier attempt is not necessarily a failure, and its context may differ from the current situation. ### 5. Available information **“Which examples, documents, or feedback might help us understand the situation?”** Ask for a brief description and who can authorize access. Do not require the material itself to be uploaded in the intake form. ### 6. People to involve **“Who works within this situation or experiences its effects?”** Allow answers by role or team. The requester’s list is a starting point; it does not establish that every useful perspective has been included. ### 7. Constraints to discuss **“What constraint should we know about before preparing an intervention?”** Keep practical details separate where needed: an external deadline, staff availability, access to the work, or an agreed budget. Something does not become a fixed constraint simply because a respondent lists it here. ### 8. The unresolved question **“What would you most like to clarify during our meeting?”** This final field leaves room for an expectation that the preceding questions missed. Avoid adding repetitive questions merely to make the intake look comprehensive. ## Turn vague answers into meeting preparation Reading the responses is the substantive step. Do not rewrite the client’s answer as an established finding or fill gaps with an assumed cause. Prepare a follow-up and identify what could help the discussion. | Response — fictional examples | Follow-up for the meeting | Preparation | |---|---|---| | “We need better communication.” | “Describe a recent handoff that caused difficulty.” | Leave time to reconstruct a case before choosing a workshop | | “We need a strategy report.” | “Which decision should it support, and who will read it?” | Prepare possible reporting formats to discuss, without promising one | | “Everyone is involved.” | “Who experiences this directly? Who sees another part of it?” | Draft a role list to verify | | “We have no data.” | “What traces exist: examples, emails, a procedure, or verbal feedback?” | Ask whether an authorized example can be reviewed during the meeting | | “It is urgent.” | “What event sets the deadline, and what needs to be ready then?” | Separate a fixed date from a scheduling preference | These follow-ups open a conversation. They do not assign a readiness score or automatically accept or reject the client. ## Worked example: a workshop request that needs discovery **Fictional case.** A company writes: “We want a workshop to improve collaboration between two teams.” It adds that several handoffs had to be repeated, but does not know whether those reports concerned the same cases. The consultant prepares to discuss one handoff, the decision expected after the engagement, and people who could describe each side of the exchange. They do not immediately send a workshop agenda. If examples are missing, a focused collection step may be needed before selecting the format of support. The preparation sheet has four fields: original request, specific information received, question to clarify, and material to examine. It becomes an engagement summary only after discussion. The [semi-structured interview guide](/en/blog/semi-structured-interview-guide-method-steps-and-15-examples) supports that conversation, while [stakeholder mapping](/en/blog/stakeholder-mapping-who-to-involve-and-whose-voice-is-missing) helps check whom to involve afterward. ## Keep intake in its proper role An incomplete form does not establish lack of interest. The person may lack information, time, or an example they can share. Follow up only on what you need to prepare the meeting. If several sponsors give different answers, preserve their wording separately for discussion rather than averaging their expectations. When you collect several written responses, [Harmate’s open-ended response analysis](/en/product/open-questions) can help you review themes while returning to the original excerpts. You choose what to investigate further. The intended result is a better-prepared first conversation, not an automatic decision about which engagement to sell.