Last week, I was enjoying one sunny day on the beach in Hollywood, Florida (it rained a lot in South Florida last week!). After going for a run along the boardwalk, I stopped into a pizza shop to get water and a slice of pizza for lunch. There was a guy waiting and nobody seemed to be at the counter. Finally, a guy appeared at the other end of the counter. I signaled him. He ignored. I said "excuse me" and he ignored me. I said "could we get some service down here" and he said "in a moment, I am taking care of something else."

What else could be more important that potential customers? Well, not much. He picked up something and went outside to put it in storage or something. He was not helping other customers or making pizza.

Luckily for me, there are several pizza joints along the Hollywood boardwalk, and so I walked out of this one and on to next one. There, I was served a slice of pizza and a bottle of water in a flash, and with a smile.

Here's the thing: we all have things to do. We all have endless lists of tasks to do daily, weekly, monthly and so on. Since we have limited hours every day, we prioritize those tasks. For example, if you need to invoice your customers, that task comes before choosing sandwiches for the holiday party .Perhaps party planning is more fun, but invoicing brings in the money that will pay for the party.

If we want to stay in business, paying customers should come first.

In the pizza place scenario, there was absolutely no reason that guy behind the counter couldn't have come over or sent someone to take my order right away. What he had to do could wait an extra two minutes, but as a thirsty, hungry customer, I couldn't wait. And didn't have to. The pizza place lost my business, not only on that day, but any other time I happen to be in Hollywood Beach and have a hankering for pizza.

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