A mortgage discovery call covers a lot of ground in a short window, and whatever gets missed does not disappear — it resurfaces later, usually at the worst point in the file, as a condition, a missing consent, or a client who is surprised by a question that should have been asked on day one. A structured intake template exists to make sure that does not happen, regardless of who is taking the call.
This is that template, organized into the fields every intake needs to capture, the consent and disclosure fields that cannot be skipped, and the triage rules that decide what happens in the first 24 hours after the call ends. Used consistently, it turns a conversation into a file that processing can actually start working, instead of a set of notes someone has to chase down later.
Step 1. Structure the call before listing the fields
An intake form works best when it follows the shape of a good discovery call rather than fighting it. Pairing this template with a consistent discovery call structure means the fields below get captured in an order that feels like a conversation, not an interrogation.
A form used as a rigid script, read line by line regardless of what the client is actually saying, tends to produce shorter, less complete answers than the same questions asked conversationally. Use the field list as a checklist to confirm nothing was missed at the end of the call, not as a script to read from the start.
Step 2. Capture these fields on every intake, no exceptions
- →Contact & identification — full legal name, contact details, preferred contact method and language.
- →Property & purchase details — purchase, renewal, refinance, or switch; property type; target closing date.
- →Income & employment — employer or self-employment status, years in role or business, all income sources.
- →Debts & obligations — every recurring debt payment, so nothing surfaces as a surprise on the credit bureau later.
- →Down payment & source of funds — amount and where it is coming from (savings, gift, or sale of another property).
- →Timeline & urgency — how firm the date is, and what happens if it slips.
- →Referral source — where the client came from, for both relationship management and marketing attribution.
Step 3. Never skip the consent and disclosure fields
Two fields are not optional, regardless of how the rest of the call goes. First, documented consent to collect and use personal information, in line with PIPEDA. Second, confirmation that the mortgage options being discussed match the client's stated needs and objectives — the suitability standard Ontario brokerages are expected to demonstrate under FSRA's guidance, and the equivalent expectation from every provincial regulator.
Document it, do not just do it: a suitability conversation that happened but was never noted is much harder to demonstrate later than one line confirming it occurred.
Step 4. Triage the file in the first 24 hours, not the first week
What happens in the 24 hours right after intake sets the tone for the whole file. This is the window covered in more depth in the first-24-hours playbook, and the short version is a fixed sequence rather than whenever someone gets to it.
- 01Confirm the intake record is complete — no blank required fields.
- 02Flag anything unusual (self-employed income, a short timeline, a complex debt picture) for early attention rather than discovering it at submission.
- 03Send the document request the same day, using the complete list the file type calls for.
- 04Log the file in the pipeline with an owner and a next action, not just a status.
Step 5. Hand off from intake to processing without losing context
The intake record should travel with the file, not live in a separate notebook or the memory of whoever took the call. Whatever comes next — a welcome sequence confirming what the client should expect, or straight into document collection — it should start from the same record, not a fresh set of questions.
This is also the point where a client's first impression of the brokerage's organization gets set. A client asked to repeat information they already gave on the intake call reads it as disorganization, even when the underlying handoff was actually fine — the record travelling intact is as much about client experience as it is about internal efficiency.
A short, filled-in example
A client is refinancing to consolidate two debts, self-employed for three years, targeting a close in eight weeks. The intake record flags “self-employed — two years of NOAs needed” and “debt consolidation — confirm all balances match a recent bureau pull” before the call even ends, so processing starts day one already knowing what to request first.
Getting this consistently right on every new file, across every team member, is exactly the kind of intake discipline built into Treadstone's fulfillment services — a documented starting point instead of whatever the person on the call happens to remember to ask.