Below is a collection of kickoff questions that I often find myself asking in kickoff calls. I don’t always ask all of them, but try to aim for 10-15 questions so that I’m getting a good sense of the goals and expectations, but it’s all still achievable within an hour.
I typically send a list of the kickoff questions ahead of our call in an editable google doc (or similar) with a note that says “I’ve linked to kickoff questions here to start thinking about before our call. You don’t need to fill anything out before hand, but if you want to make notes, I will review them. We’ll go over everything together in conversation during the meeting”.
These questions are fairly tailored to my work with web design, so you’ll need to tailor the questions you send to the work you do. I’ll usually also create specific questions around that client’s product or process if I need clarification.
You’re welcome to use any of these if they are helpful!
| The Question | Why I Ask It |
|---|---|
| Can you tell me about why you started your company and how it’s grown since then? | I want to hear about their passion for their company and get a bit of context for how they’ve evolved. |
| What are your biggest goals with this project? | Straightforward way to ask about goals |
| When we’re finished with this project, what’s the best case scenario for you? | Different way to ask about project goals that will tease out what they’re excited about with the project |
| **Whats the worst case scenario for the project outcome? OR |
What is your biggest worry about successfully completing this project?** | This question can be awkward to ask, but I think it shows that you’re looking out for where the project could go astray. Don’t be scared of your client’s worries, lean into them so that you know how to avoid them. | | Thinking about the ideal future state for your new brand/website/etc, how does it impact your business? | I want to know how our project is going to impact their business so that I can deliver on that |
| The Question | Why I Ask It |
|---|---|
| When someone visits your site for the first time, what do you want them to think? What action do you want them to take? | Gives me a sense of their ideal state for the site |
| What are the essential pages we need to include in the new website? | I likely already have an idea of what needs to be included, but asking again here helps to align as we start the project |
| Are there any brands whose personality or visuals you admire? | I want to know about other brands they respect and want to be like |
| How closely do you want this new evolution of the website to resemble the current state? | I want to know how comfortable they are with changing their look and feel |
| Do you have any creative no-go zones? (Things you absolutely do not want to see explored) | I want to know about anything they really dislike (personal taste) so that I don’t waste time exploring directions they won’t be on board with |
| The Question | Why I Ask It |
|---|---|
| How would you like to communicate about the project? (I’d love to set up a slack channel for us to communicate in!) | I like to be upfront that I like to use slack, but if a client wants to use email thats fine with me too |
| Can you share any existing brand guidelines or assets you have with me? | I want to have these on reference |
| Where is your domain hosted? Will you require support connecting it to the new site? | I want them to start thinking about domain access, you’d be surprised how many company’s aren’t sure how to update this or who controls it. Will prevent delays at launch. |
| Is there anything else you’d like to share with me before we get started? | Open ended question if there’s anything I missed in my prompts so that they can freely share. |