20-client-intake-brief-global

# Client Intake Brief (Global, Generic)

> **Role of this skill:** This is the **input gate** for every marketing engagement.
>
> Other "brief" skills are produced by the agency *for* internal teams or vendors:
> - `02-campaign-brief-global` — agency drafts for execution team
> - `06-ugc-egc-brief-global` — agency drafts for creators
> - `12-landing-page-brief-global` — agency drafts for designers/devs
>
> This skill is different — it is the document the **client fills in for the agency** so the agency has structured input to plan from.

> **Note on industry variants:** v2.5 ships a single generic English template. Industry-specific variants (SaaS, DTC, healthcare, real estate, etc.) may be added in v2.6+ based on demand. The generic template is designed to work across categories — agencies should add 1–2 industry-specific questions in Section B and Section I as needed.

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## For Newbies

A bad intake produces a bad plan. Most agency-client relationships fail in the first 30 days because the agency built a strategy on assumptions instead of facts.

This brief is your insurance policy. It forces the client to write down what they often only carry in their head — their actual customer, their real budget, what success means to them, what they've already tried, what's off-limits.

**Two failure modes to avoid:**
1. **Brief is too short** — agency starts work with 5 lines of context, makes wrong assumptions, three rounds of revisions follow.
2. **Brief is too long** — client abandons it halfway, fills the rest with "TBD," agency starts work blind anyway.

The 11-section template below is the minimum viable intake — designed to be completable in 30–45 minutes by a non-marketer founder.

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## When to Use This Skill

| Situation | Use this skill? |
|-----------|----------------|
| New client inquiry — collect info before quoting | YES |
| Starting a new marketing project — need structured input | YES |
| Re-brief when client expands scope or pivots goals | YES |
| Onboarding a long-term retainer client | YES |
| Already have full context from extensive discovery calls — go straight to `00-marketing-plan-global` | NO |

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## Step 0 — Read Context

Read `.agents/product-marketing-context-global.md` if it exists. The agency may already have brand-voice or template preferences captured.

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## Step 1 — Information Gathering

Ask the agency lead up to 4 questions:

1. **What is the client's industry?** (SaaS, DTC ecommerce, healthcare, education, real estate, professional services, etc.) — used to tailor Section B and I
2. **Client size?** (Solo founder / SMB / Mid-market / Enterprise / Agency-of-record relationship)
3. **Project type?** (Launch / Re-launch / Scale / Long-term retainer / Single campaign)
4. **Delivery format?** (Fillable .md sent by email / Notion doc / Google Form / Typeform / printed in-person)

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## The 11-Section Intake Template

Designed to flow from easy (basics) to hard (strategic decisions), so the client builds momentum.

### A. Business Overview

The "who are you" section. Quick to fill, builds confidence.

- A1. Legal company name (and trading name if different)
- A2. Year founded
- A3. Founder(s) and key leadership — name, role, LinkedIn
- A4. One-sentence description of what you do
- A5. Annual revenue range — checkbox: pre-revenue / <$100K / $100K–$500K / $500K–$2M / $2M–$10M / $10M+ / prefer not to say
- A6. Geographic markets served (current)
- A7. Geographic markets you want to reach (future)
- A8. Mission / brand philosophy (2–3 lines)
- A9. Tagline or brand promise (if you have one)

### B. Products & Services

The "what you sell" section. The most industry-specific section — adapt sub-questions to the client's category.

- B1. Core products/services/packages — table: name | description | price (or range)
- B2. Best-selling product/service and approximate % of revenue
- B3. New products/services launching in next 6 months
- B4. What problem does your offering solve?
- B5. Top 3 USPs — what makes you different from competitors
- B6. Premium / mid-market / value pricing tier — and why
- B7. Bundle / upsell / cross-sell opportunities

### C. Target Audience

The "who buys" section. Critical for downstream insight work.

- C1. Ideal customer in 2–3 sentences
- C2. Demographics — age range, gender split, income / company size, location, occupation / industry, education (if relevant)
- C3. Psychographics — what they care about, fear, aspire to
- C4. Buying behavior — discovery channels, decision cycle length, who else is involved, where they research
- C5. Existing personas: detailed (please attach) / rough idea (described) / none yet (agency to build)
- C6. Customer reviews / testimonials we should see — links or attachments

### D. Competitive Landscape & Positioning

- D1. Top 3 direct competitors — table: name | website | what they do well | what they do poorly
- D2. Top 2 indirect competitors (different offering, same audience)
- D3. Substitutes — what customers use instead of buying anything
- D4. Current market position — checkbox: premium leader / premium challenger / mid-market mainstream / value/low-cost / niche specialist / not sure (agency to recommend)
- D5. Where you want to sit in 12 months
- D6. Brands you admire (in or out of your industry) and why

### E. Campaign / Project Goals

The "what does success look like" section. Forces measurable thinking.

- E1. Primary objective — checkbox: brand awareness / lead generation / sales-revenue / product launch / repositioning / retention-loyalty / international expansion / other
- E2. Specific KPIs — for each: metric, target number, deadline (provide 3 KPI rows)
- E3. Long-term goal (12–24 months out)
- E4. What does failure look like? What outcomes would make this engagement a waste?
- E5. How will you measure ROI on this engagement?

### F. Budget & Timeline

- F1. Total budget — checkbox: <$5K / $5K–$25K / $25K–$100K / $100K–$500K / $500K+ / need agency recommendation
- F2. Budget split (best