The first call with a new marketing consultant tends to go one of two ways. Either you spend most of it establishing the basics — what the business does, who it’s for, what’s been tried before — and leave with a vague sense that you’ll “circle back with more detail.” Or you walk in with the basics already written down, and spend the hour on the actual problem.
The second version isn’t about being more organised as a person. It’s about having answered a handful of questions before the call, rather than live, under mild social pressure, while someone you’ve just met nods along.
Why this is worth doing before the call, not during it
Most of us think better alone with a blank page than out loud on a video call. Questions like “who’s your best client, really?” or “what have you already tried?” deserve a proper answer, not the first thing that comes to mind while someone’s waiting. Written down beforehand, you’ll also notice gaps and contradictions you wouldn’t catch mid-conversation — and a consultant who sees that will usually trust the rest of what you’ve told them more, not less.
The questions worth answering first
You don’t need a formal document. A page of notes, even half-finished, changes the conversation.
What does the business actually do, in one paragraph? Not the mission statement — the practical version. What you sell, who buys it, how they pay.
Who is your best client, specifically? Not a persona — a real one, or a composite of two or three real ones. What did they need, why did they pick you, what made them easy to work with.
What’s the actual problem you want help with? Be as specific as you can. “Marketing isn’t working” is a feeling, not a brief. “Enquiries have dropped since March” or “we get leads but they’re the wrong size of client” or “I don’t know which of the three things we’re doing is worth keeping” are briefs.
What have you already tried? Including what you tried and dropped, and roughly why. This saves a consultant from suggesting something you’ve already ruled out, and tells them something about your appetite for risk and effort.
What’s actually off the table? Budget, time, a channel you refuse to touch, a tone you won’t use. Better to say this upfront than have it surface three weeks in.
What would “worked” look like in three months? Doesn’t need to be a formal KPI. “I’d be happy if we had five more enquiries a month from the kind of client we actually want” is a perfectly good answer.
What this does for the first conversation
A consultant who gets this in advance, or hears it clearly in the first ten minutes, can spend the rest of the call doing the part that’s actually worth their time and yours: asking follow-up questions, pressure-testing your assumptions, and starting to shape what a plan might look like. Without it, that same hour mostly goes on fact-finding — useful, but not the reason either of you is there.
It also tends to surface the real brief, which isn’t always the one you walked in with. “We need more leads” sometimes turns out, after the questions above, to be “we get enough leads but they take too long to close” — a different problem with a different fix. Better to find that out in the first conversation than the third.
A note on using this with an AI tool first
Some people find it easier to talk this through with an AI tool before the human conversation — dictating rough answers, getting them organised into something coherent. That’s a reasonable way to prepare, and often faster than staring at a blank page. Just treat the output as a draft of your own thinking, not a finished brief — read it back and correct anything that doesn’t sound like how you’d actually describe your business. The brand voice guide covers this in more depth if you’re using AI tools for your own marketing material too, not just for prep.
FAQs
What should I bring to a first call with a marketing consultant?
A one-paragraph description of what the business does, a real example of your best client, the specific problem you want help with, what you’ve already tried, and what success would look like in three months. Written notes, even rough ones, are enough.
How long should a marketing brief be?
A page is usually plenty. The point isn’t a formal document — it’s having answered the key questions before the call so the conversation can move past fact-finding.
What’s the difference between “marketing isn’t working” and an actual brief?
“Marketing isn’t working” is a feeling. An actual brief is specific: what changed, when, and what you’d consider a fix — for example, “enquiries dropped since March” or “we get leads but they’re the wrong size of client.”
Is it okay to use an AI tool to prepare for a consultant call?
Yes, as a way to organise your own thinking beforehand — many people find it faster than a blank page. Treat the output as a first draft to correct, not a finished brief, and make sure it still sounds like how you’d actually describe the business.
If you’re weighing up whether the problem you’re facing needs a strategy conversation or something more tactical, the AI Marketing Opportunity Scorecard is a quick way to get your own thinking straight first. Or just get in touch and we’ll figure it out together.