As a customer service trainer, speaker, and consultant, I am approached by all sorts of people who tell me all sorts of things. Some refrains are, "Customer service is dead," "Nobody provides customer service like they did back in the day," or even, "Kids these days don't know how to give good customer service."

I don't buy into this negative strain of sentiment. I think what's going on is that customer expectations have grown higher and higher, and customer service levels haven't kept up. But to the extent that today's customers — your potential customers — feel this way about your competitors in the marketplace, there's an extraordinary opportunity for your business to get ahead of the curve and use exceptional customer service as a competitive advantage.

Related: 4 Ways Brands Can Educate Their Customers and Win Hearts

As a start, consider this list of pointers.

Employees need to know that you want them to step away from their functional tasks if a purpose-driven task requires a different use of their time at the moment.

The thing about above and beyond customer service is that it, by........

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