Coaching intake form: start every client with a clear goal

A discovery call goes better when the client has already put the goal into words. I would rather start there than with "so, what brings you here?" One link before the call gives you the goal, the obstacles and the time the client can give.

Who it is for

Life, career, business and habit coaches who take clients by link.

How the questions are grouped

About the goal

Focus areas, the one goal that matters most, why now and a picture of success. These tell you if you are the right coach. The "why now" answer is often the most honest line on the form.

About the road

Obstacles, earlier coaching, readiness and hours per week. They show what the client can really give. A big goal with few hours calls for smaller steps.

About how you work

Coaching tone and the way to meet, plus a box that says coaching is not therapy. Clients like to be asked how they want to be coached.

Who fills it and who reads it

The client fills it in, or hands it to their AI. You read it before the call. See forms for therapists and coaches and forms for consultants.

One tip

Read the goal aloud at the start of the call. A client's AI would ask "What is your biggest goal right now?" Then "What gets in your way?" Then "How do you like to be coached?" It shows all answers and sends only after a yes. See agent-fillable forms.

Check your local privacy rules before collecting health data. This is a form, not medical advice. A therapy intake form is for clinical work, and a therapist referral form helps pass a client on.

Questions

Is coaching the same as therapy?

No. The form asks the client to tick that coaching is not therapy or medical care. If answers point to deeper needs, you can pass the client on to a qualified professional.

Can I use this for group coaching?

Yes. Send the same link to each member and read the focus_areas column in the CSV. It shows which topics the group shares before the first session.

What does the readiness score do?

It is the client's own number for how ready they feel. Read it next to weekly_hours. A high score with little time tells you to plan smaller steps.

Or paste the JSON

Give this to your AI. It needs the AI Form API MCP server or an API key. It makes the form and sends you the link.

text

Create this form with the AI Form API create_form tool (or POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms with my API key). Then reply with the public_url.

{
  "title": "Let us talk about your goals",
  "description": "Tell me where you are and where you want to be. I read every answer before we speak, so the call is about you.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "client_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "client_email",
      "label": "Email",
      "type": "email",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "client_phone",
      "label": "Phone",
      "type": "phone"
    },
    {
      "id": "focus_areas",
      "label": "Which areas do you want to work on?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Career",
        "Confidence",
        "Habits and routines",
        "Relationships",
        "Money mindset",
        "Health and energy",
        "Work and life balance",
        "Life direction"
      ],
      "min": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "biggest_goal",
      "label": "What is the one goal that matters most right now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "why_now",
      "label": "Why now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "success_picture",
      "label": "What would success look like a few months from now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "main_obstacles",
      "label": "What gets in your way?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Lack of time",
        "Low motivation",
        "Fear of failing",
        "Unclear goals",
        "Too many demands",
        "Lack of support"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "earlier_coaching",
      "label": "Have you worked with a coach before?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "No, this is new",
        "Yes, and it helped",
        "Yes, but it did not suit me"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "readiness_score",
      "label": "How ready are you to change things?",
      "type": "rating",
      "help": "1 is not ready and 10 is fully ready.",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 10
    },
    {
      "id": "weekly_hours",
      "label": "Hours a week you can give to this",
      "type": "number",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 40
    },
    {
      "id": "coaching_tone",
      "label": "How do you like to be coached?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Direct and challenging",
        "Warm and supportive",
        "A mix of both"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "session_channel",
      "label": "How would you like to meet?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Video",
        "Phone",
        "In person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "not_therapy_ack",
      "label": "I understand coaching is not therapy or medical care",
      "type": "checkbox",
      "required": true
    }
  ]
}

Or call the API

bash

curl -X POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFORMAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"Let us talk about your goals","description":"Tell me where you are and where you want to be. I read every answer before we speak, so the call is about you.","fields":[{"id":"client_name","label":"Your name","type":"short_text","required":true,"max_length":150},{"id":"client_email","label":"Email","type":"email","required":true},{"id":"client_phone","label":"Phone","type":"phone"},{"id":"focus_areas","label":"Which areas do you want to work on?","type":"multi_choice","required":true,"options":["Career","Confidence","Habits and routines","Relationships","Money mindset","Health and energy","Work and life balance","Life direction"],"min":1},{"id":"biggest_goal","label":"What is the one goal that matters most right now?","type":"long_text","required":true,"max_length":1500},{"id":"why_now","label":"Why now?","type":"long_text","max_length":1000},{"id":"success_picture","label":"What would success look like a few months from now?","type":"long_text","max_length":1000},{"id":"main_obstacles","label":"What gets in your way?","type":"multi_choice","options":["Lack of time","Low motivation","Fear of failing","Unclear goals","Too many demands","Lack of support"]},{"id":"earlier_coaching","label":"Have you worked with a coach before?","type":"single_choice","options":["No, this is new","Yes, and it helped","Yes, but it did not suit me"]},{"id":"readiness_score","label":"How ready are you to change things?","type":"rating","help":"1 is not ready and 10 is fully ready.","min":1,"max":10},{"id":"weekly_hours","label":"Hours a week you can give to this","type":"number","min":0,"max":40},{"id":"coaching_tone","label":"How do you like to be coached?","type":"single_choice","options":["Direct and challenging","Warm and supportive","A mix of both"]},{"id":"session_channel","label":"How would you like to meet?","type":"single_choice","options":["Video","Phone","In person"]},{"id":"not_therapy_ack","label":"I understand coaching is not therapy or medical care","type":"checkbox","required":true}]}'

JSON definition

json

{
  "title": "Let us talk about your goals",
  "description": "Tell me where you are and where you want to be. I read every answer before we speak, so the call is about you.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "client_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "client_email",
      "label": "Email",
      "type": "email",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "client_phone",
      "label": "Phone",
      "type": "phone"
    },
    {
      "id": "focus_areas",
      "label": "Which areas do you want to work on?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "Career",
        "Confidence",
        "Habits and routines",
        "Relationships",
        "Money mindset",
        "Health and energy",
        "Work and life balance",
        "Life direction"
      ],
      "min": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "biggest_goal",
      "label": "What is the one goal that matters most right now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "why_now",
      "label": "Why now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "success_picture",
      "label": "What would success look like a few months from now?",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1000
    },
    {
      "id": "main_obstacles",
      "label": "What gets in your way?",
      "type": "multi_choice",
      "options": [
        "Lack of time",
        "Low motivation",
        "Fear of failing",
        "Unclear goals",
        "Too many demands",
        "Lack of support"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "earlier_coaching",
      "label": "Have you worked with a coach before?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "No, this is new",
        "Yes, and it helped",
        "Yes, but it did not suit me"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "readiness_score",
      "label": "How ready are you to change things?",
      "type": "rating",
      "help": "1 is not ready and 10 is fully ready.",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 10
    },
    {
      "id": "weekly_hours",
      "label": "Hours a week you can give to this",
      "type": "number",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 40
    },
    {
      "id": "coaching_tone",
      "label": "How do you like to be coached?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Direct and challenging",
        "Warm and supportive",
        "A mix of both"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "session_channel",
      "label": "How would you like to meet?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Video",
        "Phone",
        "In person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "not_therapy_ack",
      "label": "I understand coaching is not therapy or medical care",
      "type": "checkbox",
      "required": true
    }
  ]
}

A coaching intake form that finds the real goal