--- name: minhnv0807/20-client-intake-brief-global source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/minhnv0807-20-client-intake-brief-global@1/SKILL.md source_sha256: 7976ad3ba8cc --- # 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. --- ## 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. --- ## 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 | --- ## 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. --- ## 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) --- ## 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 estimate) — strategy & creative / paid media / production (video, design, copy) / tools & tech / agency fees, as percentages - F3. Project start date - F4. Critical milestones — launches, events, seasons - F5. Hard deadlines that can't move - F6. Engagement type — checkbox: one-off / 3-month / 6-month / ongoing retainer ### G. Current Resources - G1. In-house team relevant to this engagement — table: role | name | hours/week available - G2. Existing agency or freelancer relationships - G3. In-house production capability — checkbox: photo/video / copy / design / web dev / email / paid media / influencer relationships / none - G4. Tools you already pay for and want to keep using - G5. Founder availability for content (interviews, founder-led video) — yes / limited / no ### H. Existing Digital Assets - H1. Active channels — for each: handle/URL, follower count: website / Instagram / TikTok / LinkedIn / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter-X / Pinterest / other - H2. Email list — platform, list size, average open rate, average click rate - H3. CRM / customer database — platform, customer count, data quality (clean & segmented / partial / messy) - H4. Analytics setup — checkbox: GA4 installed and tagged / Meta Pixel / TikTok Pixel / server-side tracking / none-or-unsure - H5. Ad accounts and historical spend — Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, other (lifetime + current monthly per platform) - H6. Best-performing past campaigns — share if available ### I. Creative Requirements & Constraints - I1. Brand voice — checkbox (multi-select): professional/corporate / friendly/conversational / witty/playful / authoritative/expert / inspirational/aspirational / edgy/provocative / warm/nurturing / minimal/understated - I2. Brands whose tone of voice you admire - I3. Visual / aesthetic direction — reference brands or moodboards, color palette (if defined), typography (if defined) - I4. Do's — things to lean into - I5. Don'ts — things to avoid - I6. Legal, regulatory, compliance constraints — industry regulations (healthcare claims, financial advice, alcohol marketing), trademark restrictions, required disclaimers, accessibility (WCAG, ADA) - I7. Languages and markets — primary language(s), localization required for which markets - I8. Approval process — who signs off on creative, typical turnaround ### J. Desired Deliverables - J1. Strategy deliverables — checkbox: marketing plan / audience research / competitive audit / positioning / channel strategy / content strategy / measurement framework - J2. Creative deliverables — checkbox: brand identity refresh / website-landing pages / ad creative (static, video, UGC) / email templates / social content / photo-video production - J3. Operations deliverables — checkbox: paid media management / email automation / analytics & dashboard / influencer-creator outreach / PR & earned media - J4. Reporting cadence — checkbox: weekly / bi-weekly / monthly / quarterly ### K. Additional Information - K1. Attachments to share — checkbox: brand guidelines / past campaign results / customer survey data / sales-CRM data / competitor screenshots / other - K2. What's something about your business or audience an outsider would never guess? - K3. What past marketing experiments worked unexpectedly well? - K4. What past marketing experiments failed and why? - K5. Questions you want the agency to answer in our next call - K6. Anything else we should know --- ## Discovery Call Script (use this brief as the agenda) If you fill this in collaboratively on a discovery call rather than sending it ahead: 1. **Welcome (3 min)** — agency intro, confirm goals of the call 2. **Section A walk-through (5 min)** — quick business overview 3. **Sections B–C (15 min)** — products and target audience deep dive 4. **Section D (10 min)** — competitive landscape, positioning aspiration 5. **Section E (10 min)** — pin down specific KPIs with numbers 6. **Section F (10 min)** — budget reality-check and timeline 7. **Sections G–H (10 min)** — what's already in place 8. **Section I (10 min)** — brand voice, references, constraints 9. **Sections J–K (5 min)** — confirm deliverables, capture extras 10. **Wrap-up (2 min)** — confirm next steps and proposal timeline Total: ~80 minutes. Schedule 90 to leave buffer. --- ## How the Skill Runs ### Step 1 — Detect industry From the agency lead's input, identify the client's industry. The generic v2.5 template adapts via the agency adding 1–2 industry-specific questions to Sections B and I. ### Step 2 — Generate the brief file - File name: `client-intake-brief-[client-name]-[YYYYMMDD].md` - Example: `client-intake-brief-acme-saas-20260508.md` ### Step 3 — Render the full template Render all 11 sections (A–K) as a fillable document. Use checkboxes where the question is multi-choice, text fields where it's open. Add example answers below questions where the client may not know how to respond. ### Step 4 — Add agency cover note Cover note at the top: - Agency name and contact for questions - Estimated time to complete (30–45 minutes) - Submission deadline (default: 5–7 business days) - What happens after they submit (review meeting + plan v1 timeline) - Confidentiality statement ### Step 5 — Auto-trigger downstream skills Once the client returns the completed brief, automatically suggest: ``` 20-client-intake-brief-global (input received) | |-- [Next 1] 09-customer-insight-global → Deep persona work from Section C |-- [Next 2] 08-competitor-research-global → Detailed audit of Section D |-- [Next 3] 10-reverse-kpi-calc-global → Reverse-engineer Section E targets |-- [Next 4] 00-marketing-plan-global → Synthesize into full plan |-- [Next 5] 02-campaign-brief-global → Specific campaign brief(s) ``` --- ## Universal Brief Design Principles ### 1. Friendly to non-marketers - Avoid jargon (TOFU, ROAS, CPA, MQL, SQL) without explanation - Provide example answers below each question - Add a "Don't know — please advise" option to questions that require expertise ### 2. Structured > open-ended - Prefer checkboxes and radio buttons for structured data - Use 2–3 column tables for comparable items (competitors, products, team) - Reserve long-form text only for persona, story, and constraints ### 3. Easy → hard ordering - Start with simple business basics (Section A) - Build up to strategic and budget decisions (Sections E–F) - End with reflective questions (Section K) - Client builds momentum, doesn't quit on question 3 ### 4. Time-respectful - 30–45 minutes total to complete - Add a progress indicator ("Section A of 11") - Optional sections marked clearly so client can return later ### 5. Closing commitment - Client signs off that information is accurate - Agency commits to confidentiality and use limitation - Clear timeline (24-hour confirmation, 5–7 business day plan v1) --- ## Red Flags Checklist (review the returned brief) When the client sends the brief back, scan for these warning signs before quoting: - [ ] **"TBD" in too many fields** — they haven't done the homework. Schedule a working session. - [ ] **Budget mismatched to goals** — "$5K to launch internationally" requires re-scoping or re-targeting. - [ ] **No measurable KPIs** — Section E filled with adjectives ("more leads"). Force numbers before quoting. - [ ] **Timeline impossible** — wants results "in 2 weeks" with no audience, no list, no creative. Re-set expectations. - [ ] **Decision-maker not engaged** — brief filled by junior staff, principal hasn't seen it. Pause until you have leadership alignment. - [ ] **Conflicting stakeholders** — Section I "do's" contradict each other (e.g., "premium luxury feel" + "aggressive discount campaigns"). - [ ] **No data, no tracking** — Section H mostly blank. Plan needs to budget for measurement setup before optimization work. - [ ] **Recently fired previous agency** — Section G mentions a prior agency relationship that ended. Get the why before signing. - [ ] **Compliance landmines** — Section I mentions a regulated category (health, finance, alcohol, gambling) without legal contact. Add legal review to scope. --- ## Quality Checklist (before sending to client) ### Content - [ ] All 11 sections (A–K) present - [ ] Each question has an example answer or industry-relevant prompt - [ ] All terminology accessible to a non-marketer - [ ] "Don't know — advise" option present on expertise-heavy questions - [ ] Tone matches agency brand (formal / casual / boutique) ### Structure - [ ] Header includes agency contact, send date, return-by date - [ ] All tables have clear column headers - [ ] Checkboxes use consistent Markdown format - [ ] Next Steps section at the bottom - [ ] Confidentiality statement included ### Industry adaptation (if applied) - [ ] Section B has 1–2 industry-specific product/service questions - [ ] Section I includes industry-specific compliance constraints - [ ] Persona examples in Section C reflect the client's category - [ ] Competitive examples in Section D are realistic for the industry --- ## Linked Skills - **`00-marketing-plan-global`** — once the brief returns, build the full marketing plan - **`02-campaign-brief-global`** — turn the plan into specific campaign briefs - **`08-competitor-research-global`** — expand Section D into detailed competitive intelligence - **`09-customer-insight-global`** — expand Section C into deep persona research - **`10-reverse-kpi-calc-global`** — turn Section E targets into reverse-engineered funnel math --- ## Notes for v2.6+ Industry variants planned (if demand justifies): - SaaS / B2B software - DTC ecommerce (apparel, beauty, F&B) - Healthcare & wellness - Real estate - Online education & coaching - Professional services (legal, accounting, consulting) - Restaurants & hospitality Each variant would override Sections B and I with industry-tuned questions while preserving the 11-section A–K structure.