As a life coach, you need to learn as much as possible about your client - which is where the life coach intake form comes in. Change is often long past due, which is why many people go for life coaches when they can't get to their goals themselves.
Without a proper life coaching intake form, you may not be able to understand your client's current situation. If you just started your career as a coach, we will teach you how to write the perfect intake form to get new clients.
Why Do You Need Life Coaching Intake Forms?
The more you know about your client, the more you can create a customized program fit for their needs. Some coaches collect information via the kickoff call, filling in the blanks later with follow-up questions.
To ensure nothing is amiss, you may want to do some interview preparation first - especially if you are handling a new client.
A better way to gather information for your coaching sessions is through a life coaching intake form. These forms work pretty much like a job interview: you learn as much as you can about the client experience through a collection of life coach questions.
Based on the answers, you may start building on your coaching process.
What Types of Coaching Intake Forms Are Available?
There are several types of coaching intake forms that you can go for, such as the following:
- Marriage coaching intake form
- Parent coaching intake forms
- Coaching strategy intake form
- Dietary coaching intake form
- Academic success coaching intake form
- Fertility coaching intake form
- Financial coaching intake form
Life coaching intake forms may be added to that list as well, but it is also a coaching style that covers all of those points. It encompasses every aspect of your life, whether it involves your career, your financial situation, or other areas.
Things to Add to a Life Coaching Intake Form
Coaching forms can differ from one coach to another - and as a life coach, the questions may vary based on your line of business. However, there are some common things that you need to add, which include the following:
Basic Information
The basic information of your client is the first thing you must cover on your life coaching intake form. This includes things such as their name, contact details, as well as their employment history.
This information is needed not only to contact prospective clients but also to create a better plan for them. While you are there, you may want to add an emergency contact as well, just to be safe.
The Client's Career Goals
If you are writing for your first life coaching client and want to come up with a functional plan, then you must know what the endpoint is. What are the personal goals of your client or their career goals?
You need to gather information regarding the timelines that they have in mind. For instance, you can ask them about their goals within the next three months and the next three years.
You may also ask them about their values and the things they believe are hindering them. You have to get an idea of what they expect they may gain by joining your coaching session.
Client History
The more you know about your client's history, the more you will be able to focus on their future. Every person is shaped by the experiences they go through, which is why you should see this as valuable information.
You should ask about the most difficult obstacles that they had to overcome, as well as their biggest successes. How did they get to their current stage of life? Learn as much as possible about the steps they took to reach their previous goals.
Examples of Questions from a Life Coach Intake Form
The questions you add to the intake form will depend on the specific program that you are providing. Here are only a few questions that you may use:
- What are the top 5 changes you might want to make over the next 5 years in your life?
- Going from 1 to 10, how happy would you say you currently are?
- What was the most difficult obstacle you've had to overcome so far?
- What would you say was your biggest success in life?
- Why have you chosen those specific goals?
- Going from 1 to 10, how stressed would you say you are?
- What do you find most valuable about your life right now?
- What steps have you already taken so that you may reach your goal?
Each coach intake form is very different, and you may take notes in regard to anything, from their marital status to their academic background information. As long as they help you come up with a plan, every piece of information is useful.
Tips to Create a Professional Life Coach Intake Form
For your coaching business to be a success, you must be very careful when writing the life coach intake form. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Select a Good Coaching Intake Form Tool
There are various online tools that can help you create a life coach intake form. For instance, platforms such as Bonsai can offer you a template so that you can save time - while ensuring no details are amiss. In fact, claim your 14-day free trial to try it it for yourself.
You might want to use coaching tools that can be integrated with Google Forms, Google Docs, or Google Sheets. This way, you will be able to share the document with your client and make the appropriate modifications when necessary.
Figure Out the Right Time to Use the Intake Forms
When you are creating your life coach strategy intake form, you must ensure that it's coming at the right time. For instance, a life coaching intake form can be very efficient when you are targeting a prospect, to see if you can match and turn them into a lead.
A client intake form may also be useful when the client is already on board, but the information you got from your interaction with them is not enough. A coaching intake form can help go deeper into the matter, filling in the blanks so that you can put together the appropriate coaching session.
Choose the Right Questions
As a coach, you'll know exactly what information you need to gather about your clients. Sometimes, you may even need to mash multiple types of questions, especially if you coach more than "life."
For instance, you may be coaching relationship issues or helping them protect their marriage alongside their professional self-discovery. You have to ask the appropriate questions so that you may customize the perfect coaching package or program.
Careful about the Basic Details
Aside from the questions asking for the client's personal information, you also need to add as many relevant details as you can.
For instance, as the clients fill out the form, there should also be instructions on how to do so and what steps to take. Later, you may add information about your company, such as name, logo, and contact information.
You should also add the client's information. This can include their name, address, phone number, or electronic mail addresses. This will help set off the onboarding process.
Get As Many Details as Possible
Your job is to know your client's life story and to help them reach their goals as fast as possible. For that, information can turn out to be a priceless thing.
Ask them about their plans, and how they believe you may be able to help them. What are their concerns or visions for the future?
Each client is unique and the more details you gather, the more you will get closer to their uniqueness. If the questions have all been answered, you may write comments alongside them during the first call.
The Bottom Line
Life coaching careers can help bring a lot of job satisfaction, as you are helping many people reach their goals and purpose in life. And the more you know about them, the better your coaching plan will get - which is why a coaching intake form is necessary.
You can create the form from scratch by yourself, or you may use templates offered by platforms such as Bonsai. The latter helps provide reusable templates, which you may customize based on your client's needs.
You'll choose the strategy, but remember: the more thorough you are, the more clients you can get. So, make sure to ask all the right questions.