Thinking about barter first in terms of “fulfillment” is not usual. It’s like using the wrong end of a telescope. But, weirdly, it makes sense. Instead of seeing the benefits of barter magnified, you see them small and distant, as if on the horizon. Even though the actual benefits can be immediate—this is the case in a cash-only barter transaction—the view that sees the transaction whole, over time, is more logical and makes for sounder business management.

The reason is simple: The corporate-barter transaction needs something the client can buy from the barter firm, usually over a two or more years. The menu of fulfillment goods and services is considerable and growing, although by far the most common type remains some form of widely used advertising media.

So clients need to be sure they have a use for and, more important, a budget commitment for—enough fulfillment over time to finance a barter transaction. Because this is, in fact, what the client is doing: financing the barter firm’s purchase of one of its own assets at a very advantageous price to the seller—that is, itself.