Charleston AI Playbook

Directory / Prompts / Professional services

Intake questions for a new client

Updated

Problem it solves

The first email asks for everything and gets a paragraph back. You need the few questions that change whether you take the work.

Best tool

  • ChatGPT (free chat)
  • Claude (free chat)
  • Gemini (free chat)
  • Copilot (free chat)

The free chat is enough for one draft. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the free Microsoft Copilot chat can each do this. A paid plan only helps if you hit a usage limit. Copilot inside Word, Excel, or Outlook is a separate paid Microsoft 365 feature. You do not need it to try this once.

Copy-paste prompt

Write an intake email with no more than 7 questions. Each question should help me decide whether I can do the work or how to scope it. Do not ask for a Social Security number, a password, or medical detail. Use my services below.

Services I offer: [list]
What I will not take: [list]
How they should reply: [email]

Replace every [bracket]. If you cannot fill one, delete that line.

Example output

A usable draft is a short email with seven or fewer questions, in plain language, matched to the services you listed.

Tips

  • If a question does not change your yes or your price, cut it.
  • Tell them not to send sensitive files until you have a place for them.

Time saved

Estimate: the question list is a short edit. Reading their answers is the work, and it should stay with you.

How to use it

  1. Copy the prompt. Copy the prompt on this page into a free chat.
  2. Fill every bracket. Replace each [bracket] with a fact from your own notes. If you cannot fill one, delete that line instead of guessing.
  3. Edit before you use it. Read the draft against your notes. Delete any price, date, name, or promise you did not supply. You decide what gets sent.

Where this came from

  • Original to this library.