Client basics
Identify the person and context.
Collect contact details, time zone, availability, and session format together.
- Name, email, phone, and time zone.
- Availability and session preference.
- Optional accessibility or communication needs.
Unlimited free coaching questionnaire builder
Free AI Coaching Questionnaire Generator
Describe the practice. Makeform builds a questionnaire for goals, background, obstacles, expectations, and preferences.
- Unlimited free
- Editable before publishing
- Goal-focused question sets
- Conditional follow-up questions
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Sample prompts for the builder
Choose a prompt, adapt it, or send it to the builder. Every example is editable before publishing.
Prompt ready4 formats
Audience
Adults beginning one-to-one life coaching
Format
Conversational intake with goal ratings
Prompt size
400 chars
Brief qualitySends to builder
Example questionnaire structure
Conversational intake with goal ratings
Prompt exampleEditable in builder
What brings you to coaching now?
Long answerFirst ask
2
Which areas do you want to focus on?
Checkboxes
3
What would meaningful progress look like?
Long answer
4
How ready are you to make changes?
Rating scale
5
What support do you expect from your coach?
Long answer
Suggested routing tags
New inquiry
Ready to schedule
Needs follow-up
Ask what a useful result would look like in observable terms. Specific change gives the first session a clearer starting point.
Step 1
Ask
goals, context, obstacles, and expectations
Step 2
Review
spot themes and questions before the session
Step 3
Discuss
confirm priorities together in the first meeting
Step 4
Revisit
compare progress with the client's starting point
A better first conversation
Start the session with context, not paperwork.
Clients reflect before you meet, giving you a map for clarifying priorities.
Turn hopes into priorities
Selections, open responses, and ratings reveal what matters and where to begin.
Learn how the client communicates
Ask about feedback, accountability, pace, and preferred session style.
Notice gaps before you meet
Spot unclear outcomes or missing context, then prepare follow-up questions.
Adapt it to your practice
One intake pattern, different coaching contexts.
Keep the core sequence—situation, outcome, obstacles, expectations—then adapt the language to your clients.
Life and personal development
Explore values, desired changes, support, readiness, and a first milestone.
Career and leadership
Capture role context, strengths, feedback, decisions, constraints, and outcomes.
Group and cohort programs
Ask about program goals, participation, schedules, accessibility, and group discussion.
Ongoing coaching packages
Record goals, check-in cadence, accountability preferences, and progress reviews.
Build your intake
From a short brief to a client-ready questionnaire.
Generate a useful structure, tailor it to your coaching approach, and share it before the first appointment.
01
Describe your coaching offer
Name the audience, focus, engagement length, and information you need.
02
Edit for relevance and tone
Remove unused questions, rewrite sensitive prompts, and require only essentials.
03
Add useful branching
Show career follow-ups only to career clients or scheduling after someone is ready.
04
Share and review responses
Share the link, route submissions, and prepare themes for follow-up.
Choose the right intake method
A questionnaire should prepare the conversation, not replace it.
Choose based on how much reflection clients need and how you will use their answers.
Approach
What happens
Best fit
ApproachUnstructured email
What happensEach client receives a different prompt and replies in a different format.
Best fitA quick exchange when only one or two details are needed.
ApproachFirst-session interview
What happensYou gather context live, but administration competes with rapport and goal setting.
Best fitClients who prefer conversation or need help interpreting questions.
Approach
Generated online questionnaire
What happensEvery client gets a consistent sequence with room for personal context and conditional follow-ups.
Best fitPreparing tailored first sessions while keeping a repeatable intake process.
Field guide
What a coaching questionnaire should include.
Six compact sections gather enough context to prepare without overwhelming the client.
Goals
Define useful progress.
Ask for priorities and observable change; use ranking when goals compete.
- Top coaching priorities.
- A six-month picture of progress.
- The first worthwhile outcome.
Background
Gather history that informs the work.
Invite relevant context, explain why it helps, and keep sensitive details optional.
- Current situation and recent changes.
- Previous coaching experience.
- Strengths and existing support.
Obstacles
Surface patterns and constraints.
Explore barriers, previous attempts, and fixed or flexible constraints without drawing conclusions.
- Approaches already tried.
- Recurring barriers or competing demands.
- Readiness and confidence ratings.
Expectations
Discuss how you will work together.
Ask what support the client expects and use answers to discuss fit and responsibilities.
- Reflection versus action preference.
- Feedback and challenge preferences.
- Questions about the engagement.
Next steps
End with a clear handoff.
Confirm logistics, the first topic, and what happens after submission.
- Timing and contact preferences.
- The first discussion topic.
- A confirmation with the next step.
Related tools
Build the rest of your coaching workflow.
Connect intake, scheduling, goal reflection, onboarding, and feedback.
Coaching Intake Form AI Generator
Collect client and engagement details before coaching begins.
Open toolFAQ
Coaching questionnaire questions
Practical answers for coaches preparing a clear, respectful new-client intake.
What is a coaching questionnaire?
It is a structured set of questions completed early in an engagement. It captures goals, background, obstacles, expectations, and preferences so the coach can prepare follow-ups.
What questions should I ask a new coaching client?
Ask why they are seeking coaching now, what they want to change, what progress would look like, what they have tried, what may get in the way, what support they have, and how they prefer feedback and accountability. Add practical questions about availability and session format.
How long should a coaching questionnaire be?
Ten to fifteen focused questions are enough. Mix simple selections with a few open responses, and remove anything you will not use.
Should every question be required?
No. Require only details needed to contact the client or prepare the engagement. Make sensitive background questions optional, explain why you are asking, and provide a prefer-not-to-answer option when that makes the form more respectful.
Can I create different paths for different coaching needs?
Yes. Use conditional logic to show career questions to career clients, leadership questions to executives, or scheduling follow-ups only when someone is ready to book. A shared core can still capture goals and expectations for everyone.
How should I use the responses in the first session?
Read for themes, unclear phrases, competing priorities, and points the client wants to discuss. Bring open follow-up questions and confirm the client's meaning together. Treat the questionnaire as a starting snapshot, not a diagnosis or fixed plan.
Is this coaching questionnaire generator free?
Yes. Makeform is unlimited free for generating, editing, publishing, and collecting responses. The paid tier removes the Makeform badge; it does not unlock additional submission capacity.
Can I edit and reuse the questionnaire?
Yes. Change the wording, fields, choices, and order, then duplicate the form for another program. Review it periodically to keep it relevant.
Prepare for the person, not just the appointment.
Generate a coaching questionnaire that gives every first session a clearer starting point.
Unlimited freeEditable question flowGoal and expectation prompts