What to Ask in Client Questionnaires
At the start of each project, we send the client a Project Clarity Brief. This is essentially an intake form that allows us to get as familiarized with the business as possible so that we can create a brand or website.
We have two separate forms: one for branding and one for web. Both intake forms include their own sets of questions specific to the project at hand. The branding form dives into business details, audience segments, goals, and more, while the web form focuses on web-related questions like desired features, page content, etc.
The Project Clarity Brief is sent to the client after the proposal, service agreement, and the deposit invoice have been completed. The form is typically due 1-2 weeks prior to the project kickoff date in order to give us time to review and get any follow-up questions squared away.
Over the past 6 years, we have honed and refined our forms to ensure that we’re asking the right questions. This round-up includes sets of questions that we feel best help us understand our clients and deliver strong brands and websites.
What to Ask in Brand Questionnaires
01 - Client Information
This is where we’re gathering initial details like the client’s address and contact information. We like to include this on most of our forms for easy access, however, the client doesn’t have to manually fill it out each time — it’s all pre-filled out with Dubasdo.
Outside of the basic details, we’re also using this section to ask a few key questions:
Are you open to paid fonts? License requirements include a Desktop License for branding & personal use, as well as a Website License if applicable. In some cases, additional licensing may be required.
We ask this question so that when we step into the initial branding portions of the project, we know whether or not we can explore paid font options for this brand.
We love to share project teasers on our Instagram nd marketing platforms throughout the project! Are you okay with this, or would you prefer that we wait until the project is completed?
This question is so important! Some clients love sharing during the project and share on their own accounts too. Other clients wish to wait until launch, in which case we obviously don’t post anything during the project. Either option is fine with us, and asking in the intake form ensures that we’re all on the same page.
Where is your favorite place to grab a coffee in your city?
We love to send little coffee gift cards on project kickoff days! We include this question so we can make sure we’re sending the gift card from a shop the client loves!
02 - Brand Information
In section 02 we're gathering all of the background details about the business. We're learning what exactly the business does, a breakdown of their services, what their mission statement is, and their core values.
Please write your business name as it should appear in the logo.
This is a must to include! Business names are not always what is supposed to appear in the logo. This ensures that when we get to the logo design portion, we’re using the correct wording and punctuation!
Do you want to include any text details in the logo configurations (i.e. established year, tagline, description, names, etc.)?
Sometimes business owners want to use their established year, a tagline, or another detail in their logo configurations. This is where they can let us know! Often, clients will say it’s up to us depending on the strategy.
What are your business's long-term goals?
Asking this question helps us create a long-term strategy for the business. Creating a brand system created to last requires an understanding of where the company plans to go.
What adjectives do people CURRENTLY use to describe your brand? What adjectives do you WANT people to use to describe your brand?
How our brand is perceived is a huge part of our business. By asking this question, we’re able to identify any disconnects. This understanding allows us to bridge that gap and help the brand get from point A to point B.
03 - brand Culture & Client Experience
In this section we’re learning more about the client’s ideal audience and what drives them, draws them to the business, and makes them the ideal audience.
Who is your ideal client? What are their demographics and occupations? Where are they located? How old are they? Where is your ideal client hanging out? Where do they shop? What are they wearing? What do they like to eat? What are their hobbies? Where is the last place they vacationed? Where do they go for a quick weekend away? Get uber-specific in your answers. Give us the small details!
With this question, we find that the more specific the answers, the better. We don’t want to just know “they like to golf.” We want it to go deeper. Do they love to golf? Awesome! Where? What time of day? What are their preferred golf club brands? What are they wearing while they golf? Give us the details!
How are they spending their Saturday afternoon? Are they lounging in the park with snacks and a good book? If so, what are they reading? Is this their go-to genre? What are they snacking on? Are they a multi-beverage sort of gal, or is it iced coffee all day every day?
Give us the details! Knowing the small stuff allows us to better understand the audience.
How does your target client find out about your services?
With this question, we’re learning how the target audience is stumbling across the business. Are they learning about it through their friend? Are they seeing someone's Facebook post? Are they coming across it on Instagram? What is it that initially connects them with this business? This helps us understand where the client is hanging out and how they get their information.
Before working with you, what are your customers’ pain points? How do you address and resolve these pain points?
To fully understand an audience, we must know what makes the target audience want to work with or buy from this client. What is it that the customer needs or is lacking? Then, we want to know what the client is doing or providing that helps totally transform their audience’s life from this place of needing and having these pain points to feeling fulfilled and complete and no longer suffering from XYZ?
How do clients feel after they’ve worked with you?
This helps us further understand the transformation that takes place.
Please take a few minutes to pin some images that embody your ideal customer.
Lastly, we ask the client to pin some visuals that represent the information they just shared with us and encourage them to pin the most seemingly minor details. This allows us to kind of see into the eye of what they picture as their ideal audience.
04 - Your Physical Brand
In this section, we’re asking the client to think about their business as a physical store.
Take a second to think about your brand embodied in a physical form. If your brand were a store, what would it be like? Feel free to think really big. It doesn’t have to be related to your industry!
We want to know what their business would sell if it were a store. By asking this, we're able to see how they picture their brand outside of the standard service sphere. From here, we have them describe it. We want to know what it would look like — what colors would the walls be? What would be for sale? What candle would be burning when customers walk in the front door? What emotions would it spark? Would it make them excited and ready to shop, or would it feel calm and serene?
Lastly, take a few minutes to add to your Pinterest board, this time pinning anything that reminds you of your brand’s physical store, or that you are drawn to in general.
We wrap this section up by asking them to add to their Pinterest board from the POV of if their brand was a store. We tell them to look outside of their industry and avoid pinning actual logos, color palettes, etc. Instead, we want to see what they’re naturally drawn to that represents their brand. This helps us dig in and see how they perceive their own business.
*For actual physical store branding projects, we’d tweak this section and provide a different but similar exercise.
What to Ask in Website Questionnaires
01 - Website Goals
In this section, we want to know what the client is picturing for their website and what they want the user to do.
What are your goals for your website?
First up, we need to know their goals for the site. A website without an overarching goal is a pointless website — every website should be aiming to do something. This could be selling a product, selling a service, download a guide, having users inquire, etc. What is the ultimate objective or overarching goal that you want the user to accomplish?
How do you want the user to feel?
Understanding this plays a lot into what that design is going to look like and how we're going to structure the different layouts.
What do you want the user to know or learn when they're on your site?
Finally, this helps us understand our initial goals for the website a bit deeper. We know the main thing we need to drive users to: learning or understanding XYZ.
02 - Website Aesthetics
This section is all about how the client wants their website to look.
What 3-5 adjectives describe how you want your website to look?
This quick overview gives us some basic parameters to adhere to as we move into the rest of the project. These should align with any strategy previously set forth during the brand project.
Style wise, what are you envisioning?
Here, we just want to know in general what the client is picturing for their website’s style. Do they want light and airy? Dark and moody? What are they thinking?
What are some features you’d like to see on the site?
This question covers website features. This could include specific layout ideas, animations, integrations (technical or other), etc.
Are there any sort of designs you do not want to see?
This question is just as important as what they do want to see! We always find answers to this question to be super insightful, and it allows us to narrow our ideas when designing the initial wireframes and page mockups.
Please take 10-15 minutes to identify 3-4 websites that you admire, and explain what you like about them. Drop the links below.
We find this question to be very helpful, especially in cases where the client may not know what features they like! By looking at websites they like and thinking critically about why they’re drawn to those sites, we’re able to get a better sense of the styles and features that make be applicable to the client.
Lastly, please create a Pinterest board, this time focusing on design elements. Try searching “design,” and pin anything you’re drawn to! Try to stay away from anything in your industry. Drop the link below.
Just like in the branding brief, we use this space to ask for design inspo via Pinterest! Again, we’re encouraging them to look outside of their industry and website-specific design. we want to see what inspires them on all other levels — photos, colors, textures, art, etc.
03 - Page Features
This section breaks down content by page. We create a text area for each page, the header, and the footer, to allow the client to drop any notes or must-include content/features.
We also use this section to ask if they’ll be using a blog (if yes, which categories do you want to include?) and newsletter (if yes, which mailing system do they use?).
04 - Project Content
Last but not least, this is an informational section that tells the client everything they will need to provide and do during the project. Items include:
Website photos
Website copy (all pages, header, footer, forms, and opt ins)
Blog post copy (we will upload content to have ready to go at launch)
Legal page copy (typically Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy)
We require the client to check a box to confirm that they have read and understand this section and that any delay in content may result in project delays and fees.
There you have it!
In short, that’s the gist of what we ask clients in our branding and website questionnaires. We’re constantly tweaking these forms to make them more and more effective, so if you have any questions and prompts you love asking clients, we’re all ears!
