[Adam Randall]

Yep I agree with Karen and others, its all about risk management. You need to lower your risk of doing a heap of work for no return.

I made that exact mistake recently giving away so many hours of work to bring a client on.

I think that writing out the process as you have demonstrates that you are going about things the exact right way though.

I recommend a product called Live Cycle which is included with Adobe Pro. Its good for getting forms filled out.

I would put the following "-Work out the amount of money this will cost. Have the client pay 25% upfront." at number 3 and possibly make it 50%