According to wikipedia, "The term mission critical  refers to any factor (equipment, process, procedure, software, etc.) which is crucial to the successful completion of an entire project. It may also refer to a project the success of which is vital to the mission of the organization which attempts it. 

This is a term that recently came up in a discussion I was involved in pertaining to important conferencing events, whether audio and/or web in nature.  Does it seem odd to think of a conference as "mission critical"?  Not if you really think about it.  Does a Corporate Communications Manager view his quarterly Investor Relations call as "mission critical" when his CEO is on the line talking to important invesors?  You bet.  Does a healthcare organization sponsoring a large continuing education event with a famous doctor as a speaker view his event as "mission critical"?  Of course. 

Great news for industry during tough times.

http://www.tmcnet.com/enews/e-newsletters/customer-interaction-solutions/20090806/61370-survey-84-percent-c-level-execs-view-web.htm

http://www.conferencingnews.com/news/26142

If corporate travel is decreasing during the current recession, do you think it will rebound with the economy, or do you think this will be more of a permanent thing?  What long term effects do you think this will have on the conferencing world?  Do you miss corporate travel or do you say "good riddance!"?

Here is an interesting article on Customer/Client Service by Kevin Stirtz.  Some good ideas that can apply many situations and industries.

1. Ask your customers what they want.

This is different than what they expect. What customers expect is usually less (often a lot less) than what they want. But you need to know what they want.

What do they want in general? What are they trying to accomplish (or avoid)? Why did they choose you instead of your competition? What are their priorities and preferences?

Keep in mind different customers focus on different aspects of what your business does and how you do it. But if you speak with enough, you should see patterns and trends. You should develop some profiles of what various customers want.

Also look for how your customers want to be served. This will vary a lot and is harder to discover. Most people focus on what they want because it's easier to talk about. But people like to be treated well. We all have different definitions of what being treated well means. You need to learn what it means to your customers.

Greetings again!

An excellent short list of tips from David Lee King... definitely worth a five-minute read.