A well-structured life coaching intake form is more than just a document—it’s the foundation for a successful coaching relationship. This form serves as the first step in understanding your clients, their goals, and the unique challenges they face.
By creating a space for open communication, it ensures you can tailor your approach to meet their needs effectively. In fact, research shows that 73% of life coaching clients report positive changes in their relationships, communication skills, and overall well-being through coaching.
These statistics underscore the importance of starting your coaching journey on the right note with tools like an ICF coaching intake form, designed to align with professional coaching standards.
Thoughtful life coaching intake questions go beyond basic information. They help you gain deeper insights into your clients’ motivations, obstacles, and aspirations. With the right questions, you can set the tone for a productive and goal-oriented coaching partnership, providing clarity and direction from the very first interaction.
In this blog, you’ll explore everything you need to know about creating an impactful life coaching intake form, including its key components and the most effective life coaching questionnaire to use.
What is a Life Coaching Intake Form?
A life coaching intake form is a structured questionnaire designed to collect essential information about your clients at the beginning of the coaching relationship. This form helps you gain a clear understanding of who your clients are, their goals, and the unique challenges they face. It’s a foundational tool that sets the stage for a tailored and productive coaching experience.
Why is a life coaching intake form needed?
A life coaching intake form is essential for several reasons:
- Understanding client goals and expectations: It helps you uncover what your clients hope to achieve and align your coaching strategies with their aspirations.
- Identifying challenges: By understanding potential roadblocks, you can proactively plan strategies to overcome them.
- Building trust and rapport: Asking thoughtful and relevant questions signals to your clients that you’re invested in their success.
- Streamlining onboarding: The intake form simplifies the onboarding process, saving time and ensuring all necessary information is documented upfront.
Ultimately, this form is an indispensable tool for creating a clear roadmap that guides your coaching sessions and ensures you can provide maximum value to your clients.
When to use a life coaching intake form?
A life coaching intake form should be used at the very start of your coaching relationship, ideally before the first session. Here’s when it’s most effective:
- During client onboarding: Share the intake form as part of the onboarding process to gather critical information and set expectations.
- Before discovery sessions: Use the form to prepare for initial consultations, enabling you to personalize the conversation and focus on areas that matter most to the client.
- When launching a coaching program: If you’re enrolling multiple clients into a structured program, an intake form helps streamline the process and ensures consistency.
By using a life coaching intake form at these key stages, you can lay the groundwork for a meaningful and results-driven coaching journey.
Read: The 11 Essential Coaching Forms Every Coach Needs
Key Elements of an Effective Life Coaching Intake Form
A well-crafted life coaching intake form ensures you gather all the essential details needed to understand your clients better and provide a personalized coaching experience. Each element plays a vital role in building a comprehensive picture of your client’s life, goals, and challenges.
The basic details
A very common yet significant formula for designing an effective life coach intake form is to begin with questions on some basic client information. Make sure to include the following set of basic questions for a smooth coaching client onboarding process:
Questions:
- What is your full name?
- Specify your gender
- What is your date of birth?
- What is your residential address, email address and primary contact number?
- Provide the required billing information (e.g.: mode of payment, etc.)
- What is your marital status?
- What is your profession?
- Do you have any specific medical condition worth mentioning?
- Are you on any medication currently?
- Can you describe your daily routine?
By including these life coaching intake questions, you gain a well-rounded understanding of your clients’ backgrounds, laying the foundation for meaningful and productive coaching sessions.
Coaching questions for goal-setting
When clients wish to enroll in a life coaching program, they have certain goals in their mind or an expected outcome that they foresee. Hence, goal-setting coaching questions that help you comprehend their future goals (career and personal), objectives, and obstacles are the bedrock of any life coaching program.
Mostly the life coaching client onboarding questionnaire gives a sneak-peek into the client’s personal life. It helps you fathom the extent to which their current environment or past experiences are affecting their ability to achieve their goals. Here are the goal-setting life coaching intake questions that you must include in your client onboarding intake form:
Questions:
- What are your short-term goals (specify a time period)?
- What are your long-term goals (Specify a time period)?
- Why have you set these goals?
- Have you ever tried achieving these goals in the past? If yes, with what outcome and learnings?
- What were the deterrents you had in the past? How did you overcome them?
- What are your fears?
- What do you value the most in your life?
- What is it that makes you feel low? Rate your present stress level on a scale of 1 to 10
- What makes you feel like you are on cloud nine? Rate your current state of happiness on a scale of 1 to 10.
- What do you think success is? What is your biggest success? How did you achieve that?
- What positive changes do you wish to bring about in your life?
- How do you wish to attain these goals?
- What are the roadblocks you have currently? Why do you think you aren’t motivated enough?
- Where do you wish to see yourself at the end of the program?
- Who are the most Important people in your life and what is your relationship with them?
By focusing on their goals and objectives, you create a results-driven framework that empowers your clients to visualize and work toward their desired outcomes.
Program-based
As a coach, everything trickles down to designing a coaching program that’s tailor-made for a particular client. Program-based life coach intake questionnaires help you understand what coaching approach you should adopt to drive the best possible outcome for your client. Some program-based questions include:
Questions:
- What is your take on criticism? How do you handle it?
- Are you quite focused on your immediate task? Or do you need constant reminders to stay on track? If yes, how frequently do you need to be nudged?
- What motivates you and what demotivates you (people, situation, interaction, etc.)?
- What is your preferred way of learning that brings about best results—reading, listening, seeing or doing?
- What is your expectation from the program? How do you want me to support you?
These questions give an insight into the “what”, “who” and how” a coach will be dealing with. They help set the tone of the program, steer clear of any doubt and kickstart the program with your client on a solid note.
Support systems and resources
A client’s support network and resources play a vital role in their journey to achieving their goals. Assessing this aspect helps you understand the external factors influencing their progress and determine how to leverage or supplement their existing systems.
Questions:
- Who are the most important people in your life, and what role do they play?
- Do you have a strong support system to help you during challenging times?
- Are there any tools, resources, or habits you rely on to stay motivated or organized?
By identifying their support systems and resources, you can empower clients to maximize these assets or build new ones, strengthening their ability to stay focused and resilient throughout the coaching process.
Additional information
Providing clients with the opportunity to share any extra details ensures no important aspect is overlooked. This open-ended section of the form allows clients to voice any thoughts, concerns, or preferences that weren’t addressed in the other sections. It also demonstrates your willingness to fully understand their unique needs.
Questions:
- Is there anything else you’d like to share that would help tailor the coaching experience to your needs?
- Do you have any concerns or apprehensions about the coaching process?
- What is your preferred method of communication for coaching sessions (e.g., in-person, video calls, phone)?
- Are there any specific coaching techniques or approaches you are drawn to or would like me to use?
- What days and times are most convenient for you for coaching sessions?
By including these questions, you create space for meaningful insights that can further personalize the coaching journey, strengthening trust and rapport with your clients.
Read: 5 Life Coaching Questions to Understand Your Client Better
Implementing the Intake Form
A well-designed life coaching intake form is only effective if it’s implemented thoughtfully. Ensuring that clients have an easy and seamless way to access and complete the form sets the stage for a smooth onboarding process. Here are some best practices for distributing and utilizing your intake form:
Best practices for distributing the intake form
- Use digital platforms: Share the intake form through user-friendly tools like email, secure cloud services, or coaching management platforms. Digital forms make it easy for clients to complete and submit their responses.
- Include it in onboarding emails: Send the intake form as part of your client welcome packet. This creates a professional and organized first impression.
- Integrate it into discovery sessions: If possible, review the form with your clients during an initial consultation. This can encourage open dialogue and clarify any details.
- Ensure mobile accessibility: Optimize the form for mobile devices so clients can fill it out conveniently, anytime and anywhere.
Reviewing the intake form thoroughly
Once a client submits their completed form, take the time to review it in detail before your first session. This step is critical to:
- Identify key areas of focus based on their goals, challenges, and preferences.
- Prepare personalized questions or coaching strategies.
- Demonstrate your commitment to understanding their unique situation.
Downloadable life coaching intake form template
To help you get started, we’ve created a comprehensive and customizable life coaching intake form template that you can use with your clients. This template includes all the essential sections and questions outlined in this blog.
By implementing the intake form effectively, you not only streamline the onboarding process but also set a strong foundation for a meaningful and goal-oriented coaching relationship.
Best Tools for Life Coaching Intake Forms
A smooth client onboarding experience is essential for any coaching program, and an intake form plays a crucial role in that experience. Whether you’re looking for a free tool or a paid solution, there are options available to streamline your process.
Best Free Tool: Google Forms
One of the most trusted and simplest ways to create free life coaching intake forms is Google Forms. Its simple interface and great user experience make it a popular choice for many coaches. Google Forms allows you to add specific question types and customize them for your coaching questionnaire. It’s quick to set up, and there’s minimal learning curve involved.
However, while it’s free and easy to use, it has some limitations. Google Forms doesn’t offer automation, so you’ll need to manually send the form link to your clients via email. Additionally, it doesn’t allow clients to save their progress and return later, which can be an inconvenience for them.
Best Paid Tool: Simply.Coach
For a more professional, streamlined approach, Simply.Coach is the go-to solution for paid tools. With its suite of digital coaching features, you can create customized coaching questionnaires or adapt one of the pre-built templates. Simply.Coach allows you to send forms to clients directly from the platform, automatically reminding them to complete the form, and it gathers responses with ease.
In addition to the intake forms, Simply.Coach integrates with other coaching tools, like scheduling and goal tracking, ensuring a seamless client management experience. The platform’s automation features and data security make it an ideal choice for coaches looking to streamline their onboarding process, providing a smoother experience for both you and your clients.
Conclusion
A well-structured life coaching intake form is the cornerstone of a successful coaching relationship. By gathering essential information about your clients—such as their goals, challenges, and preferences—you can customize your coaching strategies to meet their unique needs effectively. This thorough intake process not only enhances client outcomes but also builds trust and lays the foundation for a productive partnership.
As the coaching industry evolves, it’s crucial to refine your intake forms regularly. Adapting to your clients’ changing needs and aligning with industry best practices ensures that your coaching remains impactful and relevant. With Simply.Coach, you can easily design, customize, and manage your intake forms while streamlining your entire client management process. Schedule a demo or Start your 14-day free trial today to see how Simply.Coach can transform your coaching practice!
