The intake form is your first impression. Treat it like one.
First impressions start before the call
By the time a prospective client books a discovery call, they have already formed a view of your practice. Your website shaped it. Your social presence shaped it. But the intake form they fill out afterward is the first direct experience of how you operate.
A long, confusing, or generic form signals that the client experience hasn't been thought through. A clean, purposeful one signals the opposite.
What to include
The strongest intake forms ask three things: what the client is trying to achieve, what has already been tried, and what a successful engagement looks like to them. Everything else is secondary.
Ask about communication preferences and scheduling constraints upfront. These small logistics questions, handled before the first call, remove friction from the entire engagement.
What to cut
Cut anything that asks for information you won't act on. A 20-question intake form signals that you are still figuring out what matters. Respect the client's time and signal your own clarity by keeping it tight.
If a question doesn't influence how you structure the engagement, it doesn't belong in the form.