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Coaching intake form template: 31 questions to choose from
31 intake questions for life, career and business coaches, grouped by what each one finds out: why now, the goals, what’s in the way, and how the client likes to work. Pick the handful that fit your coaching, and send them after the discovery call.
Free until your first client pays you, then $19/month · no card to startUpdated
Coaching intake questions
- What would you like me to call you?
- What do you do for work, and how long have you been doing it?
- Where are you based, and which time zone are you in?
- How did you hear about me?
- What made you decide to look for a coach now?
On this page
The questions
Pick six to ten. A short form gets considered answers, and you’ll learn the rest in the first session. Nobody needs to answer all 31.
About them
Who they are, in their own words
- What would you like me to call you?
- What do you do for work, and how long have you been doing it?
- Where are you based, and which time zone are you in?
- How did you hear about me?
Why now
What made them reach out this month and not last year
- What made you decide to look for a coach now?
- What has been on your mind most over the past few weeks?
- What have you already tried, and what happened?
- Have you worked with a coach or a mentor before? What helped, and what didn’t?
Goals
What they want, and how they’ll know they have it
- What would you like to be different six months from now?
- If our work goes well, what will you be doing that you aren’t doing today?
- How will you know you’re making progress?
- Which part of your life or work matters most to focus on first?
- Is there a date or an event you’re working toward?
What’s in the way
The obstacles, named honestly before the first session
- What usually gets in the way when you try to change something?
- What could make it hard to keep going with coaching for [the length of your program]?
- Who or what in your life supports this change, and who or what pulls against it?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to make changes right now?
How they like to work
So the first session fits them from the start
- Would you rather meet by video, by phone or in person?
- How often would you like to meet?
- Which days and times usually suit you?
- Between sessions, how would you like to stay in touch, if at all?
- Do you prefer to be challenged directly or encouraged gently?
- How do you like to receive feedback?
Values and boundaries
What a good outcome has to respect
- Which three words describe the person you want to be?
- Outside work, what matters most to you right now?
- Are there any topics you’d rather we didn’t cover?
- Is anything happening in your life that I should know about before we start?
Practical details
Mostly for business and executive coaching
- Who is paying for the coaching: you or your employer?
- If your employer is paying, who else will hear about your progress, and what may they hear?
- When would you like to start?
- Is there anything else you’d like me to know before our first session?
Ready-made versions for each kind of coaching
IntakePay comes with three coaching templates, each a short form built from questions like these, ready to send. Every question can be reworded, reordered or removed.
How to write your own questions
- Ask about the future more than the past. “What would you like to be different?” tells you more about the work ahead than “What went wrong?”
- One question at a time. “What are your goals and what’s stopping you?” gets half an answer.
- Offer choices when you only need to sort clients, such as the focus area or how often to meet. Leave goals and reasons as open questions.
- Make most questions optional. Require only what you need before the first session, such as their goal and when they can start.
- Start easy and go deeper. Practical questions first, then goals, then what’s in the way.
- Say why you ask a question that might feel personal. A line of help text, like “so I can plan the first session”, gets a fuller answer.
When to send it
Send it after the discovery call, once the client has said yes, and ask for the answers before the first session. Sent earlier, it reads like an application form. Sent later, you spend the first session collecting answers you could have read beforehand.
Sending it with the deposit means one message instead of three. With IntakePay, each client gets one private link: they answer your questions, sign your terms and pay the deposit, and you read their answers before you meet. The client onboarding form shows the whole page.
Questions
How many questions should a coaching intake form have?
Six to ten is enough for a first session. Keep two or three required (the goal, and when they can start) and make the rest optional. Anything else is better asked in person.
Should the intake form come before or after the discovery call?
After. The discovery call decides whether you’ll work together. The intake form prepares the first session, so send it once the client has said yes, ideally with the deposit.
What’s the difference between an intake form and a coaching agreement?
The intake form is about the client: their goals, their situation and how they like to work. The coaching agreement is about the arrangement: sessions, fees, cancellations and confidentiality. Clients fill in the first and sign the second, and both belong before the first session.
Keep reading
Send your questions with the deposit
Your intake questions, your terms and the deposit, in one private link for each client. You read the answers before the first session.
Free until your first client pays you, then $19/month · no card to start