My first job in the art business was setting type at an AlphaGraphics copy shop. The old bastard who ran the joint used to come flying out of his office in a purple-faced rage if precise corporate-HQ terminology was deviated from. When the phone rang, for example, we had to pick it up and say "Hello, Sir/Ma'am, and thank you for calling AlphaGraphics Printshops of the Future, my name is _____, how may I help you?"
Eight out of ten times we'd hear the customer hang up around the word "future".
My conclusion at the time: business people are stupid.
My conclusion 25 years later: business people are stupider than I could have possibly imagined.
My first job in the art business was setting type at an AlphaGraphics copy shop. The old bastard who ran the joint used to come flying out of his office in a purple-faced rage if precise corporate-HQ terminology was deviated from. When the phone rang, for example, we had to pick it up and say "Hello, Sir/Ma'am, and thank you for calling AlphaGraphics Printshops of the Future, my name is _____, how may I help you?" You got the lesson wrong. The actual lesson is: When the phone rings, go into the PHB's office and knock him senseless (OK, MORE senseless) with the receiver. Then answer the phone, "Hello, AlphaGraphics!"
This is no lie...I once had a boss say to me, “That might be the more efficient way, but it’s not how I want it to be done.”