Introduce ourselves to the client and determine a set of measurable values which are most important to them. Once defined these will inform the direction of all the work completed throughout the project.
Inform the client that we will be going through this process to prepare them. Maybe send them over some info about what it will entail beforehand. Prompt them to start thinking about what their requirements are so that we can drill down into them.
Video call - keep asking why to drill down into the companies real end goals. Eventually we'll reach "Increase revenue" or "Growth". The step that came before this one is probably the one we should be focusing on as that is likely to be their self identified current growth target:
Whatever metrics we identify we need to ask the client if they are currently tracking a baseline for this value (if appropriate). If they aren't we agree with them how to track it and make that a priority.
All of this work is intended to frame success so that the client has something concrete to compare against their investment. £50k for a website might sound like a lot, but if it increases sales by 2% in a £2.5mil business it has paid for itself within a year. This is how we frame our value.
Small, nice looking but standardised document which defines the client's success metrics, how we'll measure them and any other info about the business that we discover within this first call.