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How many times a year do you have to buy a Birthday present or Wedding Anniversary gift? Or do you leave it to your partner to do all the gift buying? Even if you leave it all to your partner there must be a few occasions when you have to buy a gift or present for them, either on their birthday or at Christmas.

Do you tramp round the high street stores looking for an idea of what to buy or do you know what to buy and look for the stores that sell the gift you want to buy? There are two groups of gift buyers, those who love looking for gifts and presents to buy and those who find it a chore and struggle to find a suitable gift.

There are many occasions throughout the year when gifts or presents are given. The annual gift giving events are birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines day, Mothers day, Fathers day, and Christmas. On top of these there are the special events like births, special birthdays like 18th, 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th,90th,100th.

Next are Wedding gifts, which start with engagement presents then the actual Wedding gifts followed by each anniversary celebration. With Wedding anniversaries we have the milestones starting with the 1st which is Paper, 2nd is Cotton, 3rd is Leather, 4th is Books, 5th is Wood, 6th is Iron, 7th is Wool, 8th is Bronze, 9th is Pottery, 10th is Tin, 11th is Steel, 12th is Silk, 13th is Lace, 14th is Ivory, 15th is Crystal, 20th is China, 25th is Silver, 30th is Pearl, 35th is Coral, 40th is Ruby, 45th is Sapphire, 50th is Golden, 55th is Emerald, 60th is Diamond.

Other events that require a gift or present are the birth of a baby and next is the Christening, followed by graduation gifts, housewarming presents, get well gifts and not forgetting the sorry gift. Some in between gifts are new school, passing exams, passing driving test, leaving work, thank you, in hospital, moving away in fact the card and gift companies will invent occasions to give cards and gifts.

For those of us that struggle to either think of a different gift or don’t like trailing around the high street stores we now have the Internet to give us the ideas and they can even get the gift or present delivered to the door for us. If you love gift giving please read the next part but if you loath gift giving you may want to stop reading now.

Scenario: If you and your partner both live to 80 and got married when you were 25 and had two children by your 30th and had 10 close relatives that you always buy gifts for them you might be pleasantly surprised to know that over your lifetime you will probably give or be given:

80 birthdays each = 160 gifts, 55 Wedding Anniversaries each = 110 gifts, 55 Mothers days = 55 gifts, 55 Fathers days = 55 gifts, 60 Valentines days each = 120 presents, 80 Christmas days each = 160 gifts, Add a selection of Weddings, get wells, sorry gifts and modestly add 10 presents each year for 55 years = 550 presents. This list of presents adds up to 1,210 based on only one present per occasion per couple.

Now add into this the present you will give and receive from friends and relatives over your lifetime which could easily be the same as the total amount of gifts you have given or received 1,210 gifts x 10 relatives = 12,100 friends and relative gifts + 1,210 your gifts = 13310 gifts or presents you buy and receive. That is also probably 13,310 greeting cards you will buy and 13310 gift raps too. That means every couple will buy 166 presents on average every year.

If you take the UK has a population of 60 million and assume only 20 million are gift giving couples. Then the amount of present giving and receiving each year by couples is 166 gifts x 10 million couples = 1,660,000,000 gifts. Which are 4,547,945 gifts bought per day.

If the other 40 million UK residents only give gifts on birthdays then that equates to 123,288 presents bought everyday. In the US you can times these figures by 5 times.

On the other hand you may be horrified, unless you are a gift, card or rapping supplier.

Time to Negotiate a New Telecom Contract?

Great! After reading this article you’ll be ready to negotiate that next telecom contract like a seasoned pro. The first steps to successful telecom contract negotiation begins by simply understanding the key areas which most contracts are based.

Sound simple? It is, so let’s get started!

Telecom Contracts: Do We Really Need Them?

Businesses sign contracts for all types of telecom services. In fact, you may have contracts in place for local, long distance, wireless, voice and data, etc. Keep in mind that the information contained in this article can be applied to just about any telecom contract negotiations.

A telecom service contract is an easy way for a service provider to lock you into a predetermined rate structure and set of conditions for a specified period of time. Having contracts in place makes it easy for a carrier to count customers. Multi-year contracts also help solidify the customer base – in other words, they can count on predictable revenue.

Contracts can also be to your advantage as well. Having contracts in place eliminates the guess work when conducting routine audits of your telecom services. You’ll never be able to verify that your accounts are being billed correctly without using contract terms and rates as a comparison.

The 7 Key Elements Included in Almost All of the
Telecom Contracts You’ll Sign

Listed below are seven common characteristics and elements that will arise when negotiating your telecom contracts. Use them as a “checklist” before you begin. It’s best to know what you want before negotiations get under way.

Keep in mind that the best deals seem to materialize when there is the element of “win-win” involved. Concentrate your negotiations on just two or three critical items that will make the biggest difference and have the most value to you and your company.

1. Most carriers will combine different offerings to maximize overall volume and revenue. Today more than ever, carriers are fighting to be your one-stop shopping for a variety of telecom services. The fact that they CAN offer you every telecom service, doesn’t mean you should follow their advice. Handle one at a time, then see how the overall package can be put together for your benefit and maximum savings for your company.

2. All telecom contracts will require a minimum volume commitment. This commitment is usually in terms of pre-discounted revenue per month. Variations could include annual usage, net revenue amounts or total minutes of usage. Determine your level of commitment based on previous months or years. Be aware that there are often additional sub-commitments included for specific service elements. FACT: The more volume you offer the carrier, the better rates you’ll be able to negotiate.

3. All require a minimum term commitment.
Two or three year terms are most common, but contracts can be written for shorter or longer periods. Like volume commitments, the longer the term – the better the rates. Service providers are usually willing to renogotiate an existing contract , even if only half the contract remains. Before renegotiating an existing contract, be sure that there are no early termination penalties or fees in the existing one.

4. The net rates are usually expressed in terms of specific discounts off regular published rates.
However, some express specific rates in lieu of service guide pricing. Bottom line? Be sure you know which is which during negotiations! Always be sure that you know the EXACT terms of the agreement before you sign on the dotted line.

5. Some published rates may be specifically waived.
Such waivers are common for installation charges and certain elements of private line pricing. Make it a point to ask to have these kinds of charges waived during your negotiations. After all, you won’t get it unless you ASK!

6. Most telecom contracts include a provision that is included for promotional and other credits.
These are applied at scheduled times to off-set costs of converting from other carriers’ services. Be sure to make specific notes of these credits at the time of negotiation so that you can be sure they were actually credited in the future just as the contract reads.

7. All telecom contracts provide for penalties if violated.
Sounds basic but….ALWAYS be sure you understand the penalties and costs associated with violating the terms of the contracts you sign. Penalties and fees can be substantial so make sure all contract information is provided to new employees who will be overseeing telecom should the original negotiator leave the company or is transferred.

Business Downturn and Technology Clauses

While not always offered by the carrier, many businesses are now asking for business downturn and technology provisions.

For example: A business downturn provision would allow a customer to renegotiate the agreement if the company cannot meet its minimum commitment levels due to unforeseen changes in the business itself (i.e. bad economy, layoffs, etc.). Usually a carrier will renegotiate a lower commitment level in exchange for a longer term commitment.

The Technology Clause protects a customer if they decide to change services to more advanced technology, resulting in lowered usage levels on initial services. An example of this is a company moving from a private line network to a frame relay or virtual private network.

Successful telecom negotiation can mean a huge difference in your company’s “bottom line” telecom expenditures. Plan your strategy. Familiarize yourself with the basics, and always remember: Everything is Negotiable!

A top complaint from audience members is that many presenters put too much emphasis on PowerPoint and technology while neglecting the message and interaction with participants. One way to deliver more effective presentations that improve your connection to your audience is to add a remote control to your presentation tools.

Why would one more piece of technology actually switch your focus from PowerPoint to your audience? Have you been distracted (or bored) as a presenter stopped the flow of their talk to pace back to the laptop to change to another slide or as they waited for a partner to move to the next slide? This is one of the 6 reasons why you need a remote for your PowerPoint presentations:

• Break Down the AV Wall. Without a remote, you are limited to the area by your laptop which builds a wall between you and your audience;
• Get Control. You never want someone else to control the computer while you have to keep saying, “next please” or flash hand signals. This approach breaks the flow of the speech, annoys your audience, and risks that your helper moves to the wrong slide;
• Fewer Distractions. Use a remote to stop distracting others who watch you walking back to your computer to move to the next slide. Plus, a remote helps you maintain eye contact with the audience instead of looking at your laptop;
• Smoother Animations. The impact and flow of most animations is lost when you run animations manually from your laptop;
• More Professional. Presenting without a remote takes away from the professionalism of a presenter and directs the focus to the technology (or to the lack of tech-savvy if anything goes wrong);
• Cool Factor. Okay, maybe not a key justification, but a remote is a nifty and useful addition to your technology tools.

With a presentation remote control, you can more effectively and smoothly deliver an electronic presentation and communicate your message. That said, even though I am a huge fan of remotes, you always want to know multiple ways to navigate with the keyboard while delivering a PowerPoint presentation. Keyboard commands may sometimes be faster or at least give you a backup plan.