Consulting discovery questionnaire
Send this before the first meeting. It does two things a call cannot: it makes the client write down what they think the problem is, and it tells you whether there is a sponsor with budget or just someone frustrated.
Free to copy and use. Nothing to download, no email required. Replace anything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details.
Ask what has already been tried
Most consulting problems have a graveyard behind them — a previous consultant, an internal task force, a tool that was bought and never adopted. Learn what failed and why before you propose anything, because repeating a discredited recommendation is the fastest way to lose the room, and because the reasons things failed are usually the actual constraint.
Separate the sponsor from the requester
The person filling in your form is often not the person with budget. Ask directly who is sponsoring this, whether funds are allocated, and what else is competing for the same money this quarter. A project without a named sponsor is a conversation, and you should price your time in it accordingly.
Ask what would make this a failure
It is the most revealing question on the form. Clients describe success in generic terms and failure in specific ones — “we would spend six months and end up with a deck nobody uses”. That answer tells you exactly what the deliverable must not be, and it gives you a success criterion you can write into the SOW.
The intake form template
Copy the whole thing, or select the parts you need. The numbers and dates are examples — change them to yours before sending anything.
Consulting discovery questionnaire
CONSULTING — DISCOVERY QUESTIONNAIRE
Please complete before our first session. Thirty minutes here saves an
hour of scoping later, and it means our conversation starts at the
interesting part. Where you do not know, "we do not know" is a valid
and informative answer.
— CONTEXT —
1. Organisation, and what it does in one sentence
[ ]
2. Your name, role, and how long you have been in it
[ ]
3. Headcount, revenue scale, and stage
[ ]
4. What changed recently? New leadership, funding, a lost customer, a
regulatory shift, a growth surge, a plateau.
[ ]
— THE PROBLEM —
5. Describe the problem as you would to a colleague, not to a
consultant.
[ ]
[ ]
6. How do you know it is a problem? What are you measuring, and what
has it done over the last [4] quarters?
[ ]
7. What does it cost you, per month, in money, time, or risk? An
estimate with your reasoning is more useful than a precise number.
[ ]
8. What do you believe is causing it? What does the rest of the
leadership team believe? If those differ, say how.
[ ]
9. Who inside the organisation disagrees that this is the priority, and
what is their argument?
[ ]
— WHAT HAS BEEN TRIED —
10. What have you already tried? For each: what happened, and why did
it stop?
[ ]
[ ]
11. Have you used external help on this before? What was useful, and
what was not?
[ ]
12. What internal work is running right now that touches this?
[ ]
— OUTCOME —
13. If this engagement goes well, what is different in [90] days? And
in [12] months?
[ ]
14. What would make this a failure? Be blunt — this is the most useful
answer on the form.
[ ]
15. What decision are you trying to make, and by when?
[ ]
16. What form does the output need to take to be usable inside your
organisation? A board paper, a costed plan, a working model,
a workshop, a recommendation to a specific person.
[ ]
— PEOPLE AND ACCESS —
17. Who is the executive sponsor for this work?
Name and role: [ ]
18. Who will be my day-to-day contact, and how much of their time is
genuinely available?
[ ]
19. Which people would I need to interview, and can they speak freely?
[ ]
20. Would I be able to talk to your customers? If not, why not?
[ ]
21. What data can you share, in what form, and how quickly? (Exports,
read access, dashboards, or nothing until a contract is signed.)
[ ]
22. Is there anything I would be prevented from seeing? Knowing the
boundary early is far better than discovering it in week three.
[ ]
— COMMERCIAL —
23. Is there an allocated budget for this work?
( ) Yes, approved: [range]
( ) A number in mind, not yet approved: [range]
( ) Not yet — part of this is building the case
24. What else is competing for that budget this quarter?
[ ]
25. Who signs the contract, and what does your procurement process
involve? (Legal review, vendor onboarding, insurance evidence,
security questionnaire.)
[ ]
26. Is there a date this must start or finish by, and what drives it?
[ ]
27. Are you speaking to other consultants or firms? That is completely
fine — it helps me know what to compare against.
( ) Yes ( ) No
28. Anything else I should know before we speak?
[ ]
—
Next step: I will read this before our session and come with a point of
view rather than a discovery agenda. Afterwards you will get a statement
of work with defined deliverables, dates, the access I need, and a fixed
fee. If I do not think I am the right person for this, I will say so and
suggest who might be.
[Your name] · [you@yourfirm.com]This is a practical starting point rather than legal advice. Terms like late fees and payment periods are regulated differently depending on where you and your client are, so check anything you plan to enforce.
Send it as an intake link from PaloWorks
Your client fills in the brief on a link before you quote, and the answers land on the project. A new workspace starts with a question set for its trade, which you edit to yours — short answer, pick one, pick any, or a date, and any question can be optional. It does not import this page's questions: add the ones you want to your form.
Free for one client and three active projects. Pro is $19/mo for unlimited clients and projects.
Use this with
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