A kickoff questionnaire that lets the first call start at the answers
The first half of most kickoff calls collects facts the client could have written down: what success looks like, who will use the work, what it replaces, and the date everyone is working back from. Ask them before the call and spend the call on the plan.
What should teams onboarding new clients ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What does success look like six months from now? | A result the client names is what the project will be judged against. |
| Who on your side will use this day to day, and who signs off? | The people who use the work and the person who approves it want different things from the kickoff. |
| What is this replacing: another tool, a spreadsheet, a manual process, or nothing? | Something to replace means a migration plan. Nothing means change management. |
| Is there a date you are working back from? | A launch, a season or a board meeting sets the schedule more than the scope does. |
| What would make this a bad experience for you? | Clients tell you what went wrong last time, which is the risk list for this one. |
| Who owns the data or material that needs to move across? | An owner named on day one keeps the migration from waiting on a question nobody can answer. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “We just want it to work.” | Six months from now, what will be different on a normal day if it does? |
| “The whole team will use it.” | Roughly how many people, and who will be first? |
| “As soon as possible.” | Is there an event or a date behind that, or is it about stopping the current way of working? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
The kickoff call still happens, and it should: it is where the client meets the team and the plan becomes shared. What changes is the first half hour. The team arrives knowing the goal, the people and the date, and the call starts at the plan.
How do you set this up from the Post-sale kickoff discovery template?
Acquainto has a Post-sale kickoff discovery template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Post-sale kickoff discovery, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
This template is built for the job. It asks what success looks like in six months, who will use it day to day, what is being replaced, the date being worked back from and what would make it a bad experience, and branches on what is being replaced: another tool leads to what stays and who owns the data, spreadsheets to how the spreadsheet works today. Send it the day the deal closes or the contract is signed.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.