As a paleontological consultant I negotiate a standard deal with my clients as Mobil Oil. The contract called for a monthly check. This was viewed as necessary by the client manager as it allowed for termination when needed. A few months later, EXXON merged with Mobil and all contracts, including mine, were canceled. It would have been great to have negotiated a paid in advance contract that wouldn't be canceled as it was already paid for. This would have given me time to ingratiate myself with the new EXXON overlords. But would the signing manager had gone for that? You bet. I just needed to position the contract as in his best interest. I could have increased the fee and offered a 10% discount for payment in advance and indicated to him that prepaid programs are never canceled. It would have protected both of us.
Lesson, always think of the advantage to the business client, the value fo the work, and the value to the individual manager, in this case, the security of a program that can't be cut as it's already been paid for.
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