Open before every client call. Work through each section as you listen. One button at the end compiles everything into a formatted Project Brief ready to paste into Claude.
Your Name
Call Date
Client Full Name
Company Name
Setup
Client Information
Confirm or complete these details before the questions begin. Pre-fill from the prospect intake form if you have it.
Client Name
Company
Industry
Location
Revenue Range
Employees
Years in Business
Email
Others on the call optional
Pre-call notes from intake form
Before the questions
Let them talk.
Read this prompt to the client, then stop. Do not ask a follow-up. Do not fill the silence. What they say first tells you more than any direct question will.
Say this to the client — word for word
"Tell me about your business in your own words. Not the elevator pitch — what actually happens every day, who is involved, and what are you responsible for making work?"
Let them run until they reach a natural stopping point. Capture everything below.
Opening monologue — capture verbatim or detailed notes
What did they lead with? What did they emphasize? What did they skip? Note all of it.
Voice-to-text ready — click into this field and use your device dictation
Your immediate practitioner observations
What struck you? What was conspicuously absent? What is the subtext underneath what they said?
Section 1 of 5
Current Reality
Map what life inside this business actually looks like. Listen for what makes good weeks good and bad weeks bad — these are the pressure points everything else connects to.
"What does a good week look like in your business, and what makes it good?"
"What does a difficult week look like, and what is usually causing it?"
"Where does your time go that you wish it did not?"
"What are the tasks, decisions, or problems that keep coming back no matter how many times you address them?"
Recurring problems are usually systemic, not personal. Note anything that sounds like a loop.
"Walk me through the tools, systems, and processes your operation depends on."
CRM, scheduling, billing, communication, project management. Note what they hesitate on or cannot name.
"Where do things fall through the cracks, and how often does that happen?"
Section 2 of 5
The Real Problems
Dig under the surface. The first answer to every question here is rarely the real answer. Push gently. The cost question is critical — get a number if at all possible.
"If you could fix one thing in your business tomorrow and it stayed fixed, what would it be?"
Note exactly how they phrase it. The words they choose reveal how they are framing the problem.
"What have you already tried to solve that, and what happened?"
Prior attempts reveal what has not worked and often surface the real constraint underneath.
"What do you believe is causing it at the root level?"
Note whether it is a people problem, systems problem, or process problem.
"What does this problem cost you — in time, money, stress, and opportunity?"
Push for specifics. Hours per week. Dollar estimates. Named opportunities missed.
"What would your business look like if this problem simply did not exist?"
This is the dimensionalization question. Let them build the picture. Do not rush it.
Section 3 of 5
Industry Landscape
Locate this client within their competitive context. How do they see themselves relative to the industry? What does best-in-class look like to them?
"How does your business compare to others in your industry on this problem?"
"What are your competitors doing about it, as far as you know?"
Note whether they watch competitors closely or not at all. Both tell you something.
"What does the best version of a business in your industry look like, and how far are you from that?"
How they measure the gap tells you their self-awareness.
"What is changing in your industry right now that concerns you or excites you?"
What they worry about tells you what threats feel real. What excites them reveals where they see opportunity.
Section 4 of 5
Vision and Ambition
Uncover what success actually means to this person — not just for the business, but personally. The non-negotiables question is often the most revealing of the entire call.
"Where do you want this business to be in three years?"
Vague answers often indicate unclear strategy, not lack of ambition.
"What would have to be true about your operations for that to be achievable?"
The gap between their vision and their answer here is often the entire engagement.
"What does success look like to you personally, not just for the business?"
Give them space. The personal answer often contains the real motivation behind everything else.
"What are you not willing to compromise in the process of getting there?"
Culture, family time, team loyalty, quality — these define what solutions are actually viable.
Section 5 of 5
Readiness and Resources
Enthusiasm is not readiness. This section tells you whether the engagement will have real momentum. Write the success metric verbatim — it becomes the benchmark everything is measured against.
"What is your timeline for wanting to see real change?"
Note whether urgency is driven by pain, opportunity, or external pressure.
"What resources, budget, and bandwidth do you have available to invest in this?"
Note what they say and how they say it. Hesitation is data. Deflection is data.
"Who else in your organization needs to be part of this process?"
Missing stakeholders are a risk. Note who is not in the room and whether that needs to change.
"What would make you feel confident that this engagement was worth it?"
Write this down verbatim. It is the benchmark the entire engagement is measured against.
Close
The Three Closing Questions
Ask these in this exact order, every time. Their answers often contain the most important information of the entire call. Do not rush any of them.
Question 1 — ask first
"What have I not asked you that I should have?"
Their answer — this often surfaces the real issue
Question 2
"What are you most hoping comes out of working together?"
Their answer — this is their hope, not their plan
Question 3 — ask last
"What would tell you six months from now that this was the right decision?"
Their answer — write it exactly as they say it
This is the clearest signal of what they actually value. It often differs from what they said in Section 5.
Your practitioner assessment — complete immediately after the call
What is the real problem as you assessed it, which may differ from what the client stated? What did you notice that they did not name? What open questions do you have going into Phase 2?
Final Step
Project Brief
Your compiled intake notes formatted for Claude. Copy everything below and paste it as the first message in a new Claude Project for this client. Phase 1 begins immediately.
Click Generate Brief to compile your notes into a formatted Project Brief.