For example, we split into small groups one day to make and present posters on a given topic. My group is assigned the problem of what to do if someone calls in to cancel service for a loved one who’s died. CSP specifically notes that this is one of the few situations where reps are not required to make a sales offer, so I write DO NOT TRY TO SELL THEM ANYTHING at the top of the posterboard in big, bold letters. Then, because the fruit-scented markers take me straight back to elementary school, I surround the words with green stars and yellow lightning bolts for extra emphasis.

When Kimberly comes around to check on our progress, she frowns, picks up a marker, and crosses out my NOT. “I know it sounds weird, but you always make an offer on every call, regardless of why the person is calling,” she says. Protesting, we pull up CSP and show her. “Oh, you’re absolutely right. I do apologize,” Kimberly says in that odd cadence, shrugging. She rewrites NOT above the one she crossed out. “They must have just changed the CSP—it was not like that the last class I had.” I try not to imagine the situation that prompted the rule change.