Would you dare get this close to real, live, customers?

Saying customer service is a top priority is such a common business mantra that it's become easy to doubt.

One business leader who walks the talk is Telstra's CEO David Thodey, who reportedly speaks directly to customers every week.

In this video, we see Telstra took that practice a step further by asking all of its top executives to work the phones in a call centre.

The results are a little sanitised - a company like Telstra will only open the kimono so far. But the video does also make a point that the frontlines of customer service are a busy and sometimes difficult place to work.

Check out the video and then, if you fancy, let us know how you keep yourself aware of what it takes to work directly with customers.