Templates Onboarding
Client onboarding questionnaire template
28 questions in seven groups that get you what you need to price and plan a project: goals, scope, who decides, budget, timeline and access. Copy them into a form or an email, and cut what doesn't apply.
The business
Context you'd otherwise piece together from their website and three calls.
- What does your business do, in a sentence or two?
- Who are your customers, and what do they come to you for?
- Who do you see as your main competitors, and how are you different?
- Is there anything about your industry we should know before we start?
Goals
The one section the proposal and every later decision should point back to.
- What prompted this project now?
- What would make this project a success in six months? How would you measure it?
- What happens if the project doesn't happen?
- Have you tried to solve this before? What worked and what didn't?
Scope
Where scope creep is prevented: say what's in, and ask what they assume is in.
- What exactly do you need delivered?
- Is there anything you assume is included that we haven't discussed?
- Are there examples of work like this that you like, or dislike? Why?
- What's definitely out of scope for now?
People and decisions
Most delays are approvals. Find out who approves before you need them.
- Who will be our main point of contact day to day?
- Who has final sign-off, and will they see the work before it's finished?
- Is anyone else involved who might have opinions late in the project?
- How quickly can you usually give feedback?
Budget and timeline
Asked plainly, so the proposal can be priced for what they actually have.
- Do you have a budget range in mind for this project?
- Is there a hard deadline, and what's driving it?
- Are there dates when you or key people are unavailable?
- Who handles invoices and payment, and is there a purchase order process?
Access and assets
The list that stops week one being spent waiting for logins.
- What accounts or tools will we need access to?
- Do you have brand guidelines, logos, fonts or existing content to share?
- Is there existing work, research or data we should review?
- Are there legal, compliance or security requirements we need to follow?
Working together
Sets expectations both ways before the first misunderstanding.
- How do you prefer to communicate: email, calls, or a shared channel?
- How often would you like updates, and in what form?
- What has made past projects with freelancers or agencies go well, or badly?
- Is there anything else you'd like us to know before we start?
How to use it without annoying the client.
Cut it down first
Keep the goals, scope and decision questions, then add only what this project needs. Ten good questions beat thirty skimmed ones.
Say why you're asking
One line at the top, such as “so the proposal fits what you actually need”, turns a form into a favour. Clients answer more fully when they know it's for them.
Quote it back
Use the client's own words in the proposal's goal and scope. It shows you listened, and it makes the scope hard to dispute later.
Turn the answers into a signed proposal.
Write the proposal in ApeiroCraft from what the client told you, send it as a link, see when it's opened, and have it e-signed in the browser. The signed price becomes an invoice in one click.
Free plan: 3 proposals and 3 invoices sent a month, no credit card. Solo is $19/mo for up to 3 people.
Client onboarding, answered.
When should I send a client onboarding questionnaire?
Before you write the proposal, or straight after the first call. The answers to the goals, scope and budget sections are what a good proposal is built from, and sending it early shows the client you plan before you price.
How long should it be?
Short enough to finish in 15 minutes. This template has more questions than most projects need, so cut the ones that don't apply. A questionnaire that feels like homework gets half-finished.
Should I ask about budget?
Yes. Asking for a range is normal and saves both sides a proposal that was never going to fit. If a client won't share one, offer two or three options at different price points in the proposal instead.
What do I do with the answers?
Turn them into the proposal. Restate the goal in the client's words, list the scope and what's excluded, name the approver, and match the timeline to their dates. Then send it as a link you can see being opened.
How to write a freelance proposal →Can I send this from ApeiroCraft?
Not as a form: ApeiroCraft doesn't have a questionnaire builder. Copy the questions into your form tool or an email. Where ApeiroCraft helps is the next step: the proposal built from the answers, signed in the browser, then invoiced.
Keep reading
Free template
Freelance proposal template
Any field: the client's goal, scope and exclusions, a timeline and two options to choose from.
Guide
How to write a freelance proposal
Nine steps, from qualifying the lead to the exclusions list, priced options and follow-up.
Free tool
Freelance contract generator
Scope, fees, deposit, ownership and notice in plain language. Copy it, print it, or send it to sign.