Coaching intake form: what to ask before the first session
Copy it into your own form or email, or ask the same questions on your booking page so the answers arrive with the booking.
Coaching intake form
Thanks for booking a session with me. These questions help me use our first session well. Answer what you're comfortable with. Anything you skip, we can cover when we talk.
About you
1. Your name, and the name you'd like me to use:
2. Email and phone number, in case a session has to move at short notice:
3. Your time zone, or the city you'll usually join from:
4. What fills most of your week right now (work, study, family, something else)?
Where you are now
5. What made you book coaching now, rather than six months ago?
6. What's going well that you want to keep?
7. What's getting in the way at the moment?
8. On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you with [the area we'll work on] today? What would make it one point higher?
What you want
9. If our work goes well, what will be different three months from now?
10. What would you like to leave our first session with?
11. How will you know coaching is working for you?
How you like to work
12. Have you worked with a coach, mentor or therapist before? What helped, and what didn't?
13. How do you like feedback: straight to the point, or eased in?
14. Is there a topic you'd rather we didn't cover yet, or one to handle with care?
15. Between sessions, how much contact suits you: none, a short check-in, or a message when something comes up?
Practical details
16. Which days and times usually work for our sessions?
17. How did you hear about me?
18. What else should I know before we start?
Thank you. I'll read this before we meet.
What to put in a coaching intake form
Ask what you'd otherwise spend the first twenty minutes finding out. The form above has five parts: who they are, where they are now, what they want, how they like to work, and the practical details. Cut any question you won't read before the session.
- Start with easy questions. Name and time zone first, the big goal later.
- Ask one thing per question. "Goals and obstacles" gets half an answer.
- Save anything that needs trust for the session itself.
Getting clients to fill it in
A form that arrives days later, in its own email, is easy to put off. Send it when they book, while they're keen, and say why you're asking. You want the first session to start on them.
- Keep it to one sitting on a phone.
- Make two or three questions required and leave the rest optional.
- Read it before the session, and mention one answer early on.
Collect the intake answers with the booking
In Pick a Time, these become booking questions. Clients answer them on your booking page as they book, and the answers land on the booking, in your booking emails and on the calendar event. Name, email and a notes box are always asked. Booking questions are on the free plan.
| Booking question | Answer type |
|---|---|
| What made you book coaching now? | Paragraph, required. |
| What would you like to leave our first session with? | Paragraph, required. |
| Have you worked with a coach before? | Dropdown: Yes or No. |
| How did you hear about me? | Short text. |
| Which days and times usually work for our sessions? | Short text. |
Questions people ask
Is this coaching intake form free to use?
Yes. Copy it, change it and send it from wherever you like. You don't need an account to copy it.
How many questions should an intake form have?
As few as you'll read before the session. This one has 18 in five parts, so cut what your niche doesn't need. On a booking page, three to five is plenty, because each one sits between the client and the booked time.
Can I use it for life, career or business coaching?
Yes. The questions are general on purpose. Swap the topic in question 8 for your niche: a career move, a health habit, a business goal.
Do clients need an account to answer booking questions?
No. On a Pick a Time booking page, clients answer as they book. They never create an account.
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