A while back, a large business was looking for ways to cut back on expenses. In all letters to customers and suppliers, the company manual called for closing the letter with "Regards." In an effort to save time and reduce costs, the word came down from the main office that "Regards" should be removed and the letter should be closed simply with the name of the person sending it. This might seem to be a small matter. But to remove one word multiplied by thousands of letters each month, the bean-counters at the company "thought" it was a good, practical idea (Less is more?).
However, this particular word is a very important word. It is the close--the impression you leave your reader with. Here is the kicker--as a result of the reprogramming of the macros in the company's word processor program, thousands of letters soon began arriving at customers' and suppliers' desks with the closing, "No Regards." Now the company has a much bigger problem.
What do you think?
