Client Kick-off Meeting Agenda (and What to Agree in It)

What the kick-off is for

The sales conversation is about whether to work together. The kick-off is about how. By the end of it, both sides should be able to answer the same five questions in the same way:

1. What are we doing, and what aren't we doing?
2. What does a good result look like?
3. When are the key dates?
4. How will we hear from each other, and how often?
5. What happens if something changes?

If you can't get agreement on one of those, the meeting has done its job by finding out early.

The kick-off is step four of the client onboarding process. Hold it once you've collected the essentials, so the time goes on how you'll work together.

What to send before the meeting

A kick-off goes faster when nobody hears the scope for the first time in the room. A few days before, send one short email with:

• The agenda, with times, so people know how long to set aside and what's coming.
• Who's coming from your side, and what each person does on the work.
• The scope on one page, in plain words: what's included, what isn't, and the key dates. Leave the contract out, because few people read one before a meeting.
• The questions you'll ask, such as "What would a good result look like for you?" People give better answers when they've had time to think.
• What you still need from them, such as access or files. If your intake form has already collected the essentials, this list is short.

End by asking two things: who will attend from their side, and whether anything has changed since you last spoke. That second question often turns up the new branding, the new manager or the budget cut before the meeting rather than three weeks after it.

Pick an agenda for your kind of work

The essentials are the same for everyone. The time you spend on each part depends on the work. Pick the closest match.

What to agree in each part

Who decides what. Find out who approves the work and who you'll deal with day to day. They're often different people, and work stalls when you've only been talking to the second one.

The scope, out loud. Read it back in plain words, including what's not included. It feels repetitive after the proposal. It's also the moment misunderstandings come out, like the new branding nobody mentioned.

What good looks like. Ask the client to describe a good result in their own words, and write it down as they say it. It tells you what they'll judge you on, which isn't always what the proposal says.

Updates. Agree how often you'll update them and in what form, such as a short written note every Friday. Then keep to it.

Extra requests. Agree now that anything outside the scope gets written down, priced and approved before work starts. Our guide to scope creep and change requests has a form you can copy.

When new people or new scope turn up

Kick-offs are where the client's side often grows. Someone from finance joins, or a director drops in for ten minutes, or the client arrives with three ideas that weren't in the proposal. Neither is a problem if you handle it calmly.

New people. Welcome them, then find out their part early: "So we cover what you need, what's your role in this?" Listen for the one who'll really approve the work. If it's someone you haven't met before, they matter more than anyone else in the room, so ask them directly what a good result looks like. Add every new name and role to the note.

New scope. Don't agree to it in the room, and don't turn it down either. Write it down and say what happens next: "That's not in what we agreed, so let me note it and come back to you with what it would involve." Then choose one of three routes afterwards:

• A change request, priced and approved before anyone starts. The change request process has a form to copy.
• A later phase, once the agreed work is done.
• A swap, where the new item replaces something already in scope, at no extra cost.

If the new ideas change the whole job, it's fine to pause and re-plan the dates before work starts. A short delay now costs less than building the wrong thing.

A typical example

Picture a made-up but ordinary case. A small events company runs a 45-minute kick-off for a client's annual conference. When they read back the scope, the client's operations manager asks where the speaker travel bookings fit. They don't: the proposal covered the venue, catering and on-the-day running, and travel was meant to stay with the client.

Because it came up in week one, it's a two-minute conversation. The client decides to keep travel in-house, and the note says so. Without the read-back, it would have surfaced a fortnight before the event.

The kick-off note (template)

Send this the same day, while everyone still remembers the meeting the same way. Copy the headings into Word or an email, and keep each part short.

Ask the client to reply with any corrections by a set day. Then file the note where everyone working on the job can find it. When someone asks in week six what was agreed, you'll have the answer on one page.

Running a kick-off remotely

A kick-off on a video call needs a little more structure than one in a room, because it's harder to read people and easier for them to stay quiet.

• Check who's there at the start. Ask whether anyone is sitting in with them off camera, and note any new names.
• Share the scope page on screen and read it back together. Seeing the words helps people spot what's missing.
• Ask people by name. "Ana, what would a good result look like from your side?" works better than a question to the group.
• Type the note live. Put the agreements into a shared document on screen, so they're seen and agreed before the call ends.
• Ask before recording. If you'd like a recording, ask at the start.
• Keep it short. If the agenda needs more than an hour, split it into two calls rather than asking everyone to concentrate for longer.

Read the actions back before anyone leaves, then send the finished note the same day, as you would after a meeting in person.

Common mistakes

Holding it before you have what you need. If the first half is spent asking for access, there's no time left for the important parts.

Too many people. A kick-off with ten people becomes a presentation. Keep it to the people who decide and the people who do the work.

Saying yes to new work in the room. It feels helpful in the moment. It also commits you to something nobody has priced or planned.

No notes. If the agreements aren't written down and sent the same day, they'll be remembered differently by next month.

Skipping it for small jobs. Even a short job benefits from a 20-minute call. It's quicker than fixing a misunderstanding on the day.

For the agendas for other meetings, such as weekly team meetings and one-to-ones, see our meeting templates.