Ask HN: Freelancers/consultants, what is your first-client-meeting checklist?

2 of mine:

- Make sure client actually knows how software development works. This keeps their expectations in check.

- Make sure their intentions are honest. This keeps my expectations in check.

There is no way to insure that project planning goes smoothly and requirements are clearly expressed because those things are not under your control. To put it another way, your checklist is your checklist, not the client's. Besides, your goal as a consultant is not for the project to go smoothly, your goal is to get paid for dealing with the unsmoothness and unclarity. If dealing with those has adverse impact on your psychological well being, then long term success in customer relations may be difficult. Conversely, if the client is not able or unwilling to pay you for dealing with the risks of unsmoothness and unclarity, stay away. Good luck.

- Checklist of tests that the project must pass. I had this issue with one client who put "chat system" in the app, but in his mind, it's

- Clarify to the client that all submitted design is "low res", i.e. wireframe, unless it's in CSS/XML/whatever. Font weights, button curves, padding, etc, are not part of the specs.

- Make sure they're not trying to screw me. There's a lot of gray areas in software. It's nice to take the middle point in a contract, not the point where you have the most to lose. Many clients will try to use that gray area to fleece you. This is the main reason contracting is so expensive.

I always start with a casual phone call to gauge their style and personality, and to gauge how well they understand the challenge. If it goes well and there's a spark, I reach out with a custom statement of work based on notes I took during the initial call, and we formalize terms, budgets, etc. to fill in the blanks. That almost always ends with a digital handshake by the end of the call and I start on the work immediately.

In a meeting and a half I understand the problem, their understanding of the problem, their personality and work style, and specific terms.