/20-client-intake-brief-global

name: 20-client-intake-brief-global
description: "Use when an agency or freelancer takes on a NEW client and needs everything up front — an 11-section intake covering business overview, audience, current marketing, goals, budget, timeline, brand assets, approval process, and success criteria, written for the client to fill in and return. Trigger on 'client intake', 'agency brief', 'onboard a new client', 'discovery call template', 'what should I ask a new client', 'kickoff questionnaire'. Also use when the user just signed someone and does not know where to begin. Not for — the internal context file the skills read, see `product-marketing-context-global`; the plan built from the answers, see `00-marketing-plan-global`; briefing an outside vendor, see `67-agency-vendor-brief-global`."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.1
  category: operations
  language: en
license: MIT
triggers:
  - "client intake"
  - "agency brief"
  - "new client onboarding"
  - "project kickoff brief"
  - "discovery call template"
output: A .md file containing 11-section client intake brief that the client fills in and returns to the agency. The completed brief is the input gate for downstream skills (00, 02, 08, 09, 10).
related:
  - product-marketing-context-global
  - 00-marketing-plan-global
  - 02-campaign-brief-global
  - 09-customer-insight-global

Client Intake Brief (Global, Generic)

> **Role of this skill:** This is the **input gate** for every marketing engagement. > > Other "brief" skills are produced by the agency *for* internal teams or vendors: > - `02-campaign-brief-global` — agency drafts for execution team > - `06-ugc-egc-brief-global` — agency drafts for creators > - `12-landing-page-brief-global` — agency drafts for designers/devs > > This skill is different — it is the document the **client fills in for the agency** so the agency has structured input to plan from.

> **Note on industry variants:** v2.5 ships a single generic English template. Industry-specific variants (SaaS, DTC, healthcare, real estate, etc.) may be added in v2.6+ based on demand. The generic template is designed to work across categories — agencies should add 1–2 industry-specific questions in Section B and Section I as needed.

---

For Newbies

A bad intake produces a bad plan. Most agency-client relationships fail in the first 30 days because the agency built a strategy on assumptions instead of facts.

This brief is your insurance policy. It forces the client to write down what they often only carry in their head — their actual customer, their real budget, what success means to them, what they've already tried, what's off-limits.

**Two failure modes to avoid:** 1. **Brief is too short** — agency starts work with 5 lines of context, makes wrong assumptions, three rounds of revisions follow. 2. **Brief is too long** — client abandons it halfway, fills the rest with "TBD," agency starts work blind anyway.

The 11-section template below is the minimum viable intake — designed to be completable in 30–45 minutes by a non-marketer founder.

---

When to Use This Skill

| Situation | Use this skill? | |-----------|----------------| | New client inquiry — collect info before quoting | YES | | Starting a new marketing project — need structured input | YES | | Re-brief when client expands scope or pivots goals | YES | | Onboarding a long-term retainer client | YES | | Already have full context from extensive discovery calls — go straight to `00-marketing-plan-global` | NO |

---

Step 0 — Read Context

Read `.agents/product-marketing-context-global.md` if it exists. The agency may already have brand-voice or template preferences captured.

---

Step 1 — Information Gathering

Ask the agency lead up to 4 questions:

1. **What is the client's industry?** (SaaS, DTC ecommerce, healthcare, education, real estate, professional services, etc.) — used to tailor Section B and I 2. **Client size?** (Solo founder / SMB / Mid-market / Enterprise / Agency-of-record relationship) 3. **Project type?** (Launch / Re-launch / Scale / Long-term retainer / Single campaign) 4. **Delivery format?** (Fillable .md sent by email / Notion doc / Google Form / Typeform / printed in-person)

---

The 11-Section Intake Template

Designed to flow from easy (basics) to hard (strategic decisions), so the client builds momentum.

A. Business Overview

The "who are you" section. Quick to fill, builds confidence.

• A1. Legal company name (and trading name if different)
• A2. Year founded
• A3. Founder(s) and key leadership — name, role, LinkedIn
• A4. One-sentence description of what you do
• A5. Annual revenue range — checkbox: pre-revenue / <$100K / $100K–$500K / $500K–$2M / $2M–$10M / $10M+ / prefer not to say
• A6. Geographic markets served (current)
• A7. Geographic markets you want to reach (future)
• A8. Mission / brand philosophy (2–3 lines)
• A9. Tagline or brand promise (if you have one)

B. Products & Services

The "what you sell" section. The most industry-specific section — adapt sub-questions to the client's category.

• B1. Core products/services/packages — table: name | description | price (or range)
• B2. Best-selling product/service and approximate % of revenue
• B3. New products/services launching in next 6 months
• B4. What problem does your offering solve?
• B5. Top 3 USPs — what makes you different from competitors
• B6. Premium / mid-market / value pricing tier — and why
• B7. Bundle / upsell / cross-sell opportunities

C. Target Audience

The "who buys" section. Critical for downstream insight work.

• C1. Ideal customer in 2–3 sentences
• C2. Demographics — age range, gender split, income / company size, location, occupation / industry, education (if relevant)
• C3. Psychographics — what they care about, fear, aspire to
• C4. Buying behavior — discovery channels, decision cycle length, who else is involved, where they research
• C5. Existing personas: detailed (please attach) / rough idea (described) / none yet (