In 2006 Fred Reichheld, author of The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth wrote:

CEOs regularly announce ambitious growth targets, then fail to achieve them. The reason? Their growing addiction to bad profits. These corporate steroids boost short-term earnings but alienate customers. They undermine growth by creating legions of detractors – customers who complain loudly about the company and switch to competitors at the earliest opportunity.

Are you listening Verizon?

Good Profit: Charging people for your wireless service.
Bad Profit: Charging people to PAY you for your wireless service.

And if that’s not enough – did you learn NOTHING from Bank of America? Wells Fargo? Netflix?

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