Free form template

Client intake form template. Know the goal, the timeline and the budget before the first call.

For agencies, consultants, coaches and freelancers. New clients tell you who they are, which services they need, what they want to achieve, when they want to start and roughly what they can spend. Copy the form, put your services in question seven and link it from your website and your first reply.

Use this template

Free plan: 100 responses a month and up to 50 surveys, no credit card. Every question and the logic jump in this form work on the Free plan.

The template’s real survey on a phone.

  • 14 ready questionsAbout 4 min on a phone.
  • Yours to changeQuestions, answers and logic.
  • A ready reportA chart for every closed question.
  • Export on every planCSV, Excel and SPSS.

A discovery call goes better when you already know what the client wants. The form asks first, so the call starts with the plan.

The 14 client intake form questions in this template.

In the order clients meet them. Put your services in question seven, change the budget ranges and add your own.

Contact details

  1. Full name

    Open answer Required

    Why ask it. Who the request is from, and the name you greet them with on the first call.

  2. Email

    E-mail Required

    Why ask it. Where your reply and proposal go, in a field made for e-mail addresses.

  3. Phone

    Phone number

    Why ask it. Optional, for clients who would rather talk or message on WhatsApp. The note under the question tells them so.

About the business

  1. Company name and website

    Open answer

    Why ask it. Lets you look at the business before the call. People who contact you as individuals leave it blank.

  2. Industry

    Dropdown Required

    • Retail stores
    • Ecommerce
    • Professional services
    • Finance and insurance
    • Real estate
    • Health and wellness
    • Education
    • Tech or software
    • Hospitality and tourism
    • Manufacturing
    • Nonprofit
    • Other

    Why ask it. Twelve industries in one line on a phone. Shows which markets your requests come from; swap the list for the sectors you serve.

  3. How many people work at your company?

    Single choice Required

    • Just me
    • 2–10
    • 11–50
    • 51–200
    • 201–1,000
    • More than 1,000

    Why ask it. Tells a solo founder from a company with a buying process, and helps you size the proposal.

The project

  1. Which services are you interested in?

    Multiple choice Required

    • [Service 1]
    • [Service 2]
    • [Service 3]
    • [Service 4]
    • [Service 5]
    • Not sure yet, I'd like your advice

    Why ask it. Replace the five placeholders with what you sell. The last option is for clients who know the problem but not the service, so nobody has to guess.

  2. What do you want to achieve?

    Open answer Required

    Why ask it. The problem and what a good result looks like, in the client’s own words. Read it before anything else.

  3. When would you like to start?

    Single choice Required

    • As soon as possible
    • Within a month
    • In 1–3 months
    • In more than 3 months
    • I'm just exploring options for now

    Why ask it. Separates urgent projects from people who are still exploring, so you know whom to call first.

  4. What is your approximate budget?

    Single choice

    • Under $1,000
    • $1,000–$4,999
    • $5,000–$19,999
    • $20,000 or more
    • Not sure yet

    Why ask it. Optional, so it scares no one off. Change the ranges to your own price points and currency.

Past experience and next step

  1. Have you hired a similar service before?

    Yes / No

    • Yes
    • No

    Why ask it. Shows whether the client has done this before. A No skips the next question.

  2. What worked well, and what didn't?

    Open answer

    Why ask it. What the last provider got right and wrong: the expectations you will be measured against.

  3. Links to a brief or other documents

    Open answer

    Why ask it. A link to Google Drive, Dropbox or a similar service, so the brief arrives with the request.

  4. What's the best way to reach you?

    Single choice Required

    • Email
    • Phone call
    • Video call
    • WhatsApp or another messenger

    Why ask it. Get back to the client the way they asked, from the first reply.

Use this template

How to set up a client intake form from this template.

  1. 1

    Copy the form

    Click “Use this template” and create a free account or log in. The form is copied to your account with all 14 questions and the logic jump. The copy waits in your survey list as a draft.

  2. 2

    Make it yours

    Put your services in question seven and set the budget ranges to your prices. On Basic and higher plans, add your logo and a Booking question so the client picks a time for the intro call in the same form.

  3. 3

    Send it to new clients

    Link the form from your contact page, embed it on your site, or paste the link into your first reply to every new enquiry.

  4. 4

    Get ready for the call

    Every submission lands in your account, and an e-mail notification tells you about it. Read the goal, the timeline and the budget before you pick up the phone.

How to work with client intake answers.

Who to call first

The timeline and budget charts show how many requests are urgent and how big they are. On Basic and higher plans, filter by “As soon as possible” to see those clients first.

Which services sell

The chart for question seven counts how often each service is requested. Lead your website and your proposals with the ones clients ask for most.

Everything about one client in one place

Each response keeps the contact details, the goal and the past experience together. Export to Excel or CSV on any plan, or send each new client to Google Sheets on Basic and higher plans.

How to get complete client intake forms.

  1. Name your real services

    Five clear service names in question seven get better answers than general categories. Delete the placeholders you don’t need.

  2. Keep the budget optional

    Some clients won’t name a number before they talk to you. Ranges are easier to pick than an exact figure, and “Not sure yet” lets them answer honestly.

  3. Answer fast

    Turn on e-mail notifications, on any plan, and reply while the client still has the project in mind.

  4. Say when you’ll reply

    The thank-you screen says you will be in touch soon. Replace “soon” with the time you can keep, such as one business day.

More client intake questions you can add.

Not in the template. Add any of them in the builder in a few clicks.

Scope

  • Who is the audience or customer for this project?
  • Which competitors or examples do you like, and why?
  • Is there a deadline we must meet?

Decision

  • Who else is involved in the decision?
  • Are you talking to other providers?
  • How will you measure whether the project worked?

Working together

  • How often would you like updates?
  • Which tools does your team use for files and messages?
  • How did you hear about us?

Questions about this template

What should a client intake form ask?

Contact details, the business and its size, the services the client needs, the goal, when they want to start, an approximate budget, their past experience with similar services and how they want to be contacted. This template asks all of it in fourteen questions.

How is an intake form different from a contact form?

A contact form takes a name, a way to reply and a message. An intake form asks the questions you would otherwise spend the first call on: the goal, the timeline, the budget and what the client has tried before.

Can clients upload a brief?

The template asks for a link to Google Drive, Dropbox or a similar service, which works on every plan. To take files directly, replace the question with a file upload question: it works on Basic and higher plans and in the 14-day Premium trial every new account starts with.

Can clients book a call in the same form?

Yes, with a Booking question on Basic and higher plans. The client sees only your free times, in their own time zone, and the booking is created when they send the form.

Where do new submissions arrive?

Every submission is saved in the form’s answers in your account. Turn on e-mail notifications to get each new one in your inbox: one recipient on Free, up to 3 on Basic, 5 on Standard and 10 on Premium.

Start every project with the answers you need.

Copy the form, add your services and send the link to your next new client.