The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce recently published a paper outlining some very sensible strategies businesses can employ in seven different arenas “when the economy sours.” While we might argue that, at this point, if the economy has soured, following the advice provided may either pull your business out of a slump or keep it from falling into a slump in the first place.

Two of the sales strategies mentioned in the document recommend prioritizing both your sales prospects and your existing customers. We can all agree that we should exert our effort where we will realize the biggest return; after all, how many references to the Pareto Principle can you recall from prior sales training?

ACT! by Sage ships with some pretty terrific reports for prioritizing your efforts that might work for you right out of the box. By following the Reports Menu to Edit Template, you can even modify the existing reports to meet your needs or click New Template to start from scratch. By using these tools to analyze where you need to focus your sales and marketing energy, you will also be working within another of the included strategies: optimizing operations.