Should I sign multi-year deals, and what payment terms should I be pushing for?
A multi-year deal is worth real money to you (locked revenue, no renewal risk, lower churn) so charge for it properly rather than giving it away. Two structures matter. A ramp lets the customer start small and step up on a schedule, which wins deals where the full price is a stretch today, at the cost of a billing system that has to handle it and a revenue number that gets harder to read. A flat multi-year with a capped annual uplift is simpler and usually better for you. On terms, the things sophisticated buyers ask for are exactly the things you should price: annual prepay versus quarterly, a cap on renewal increases, rollover of unused commitment, pre-agreed rate tables for growth. Give them, but take something each time. In Indian public sector and PSU work the shape is different again, with advance against bank guarantee, milestone payments and an AMC tail, so read the tender document before you quote.
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Explains what a ramp actually costs you behind the scenes: misbilling, deferred revenue errors and ARR that stops meaning what you think it means. Read it before you agree to a three year step up on a spreadsheet.
Written for the buyer, which is exactly why a seller should read it. These eight asks (price caps, rollover, overage true ups, pre agreed rate tables, auto renewal) are what a professional procurement team will put in front of you, so decide your position on each in advance.
The shape of an Indian government or PSU software contract, which nothing in the global SaaS canon prepares you for: EMD of one to five percent, advance against bank guarantee, payment split across development milestones, UAT and go live, then an AMC tail at 15 to 20 percent a year.
Russell Lester sits on the buying side at Tropic and brings real procurement data on what multi year discounts actually look like, including when a longer commitment stops helping either party. Hear how the person across the table values the years before you give them away.
