In order for your sales team to succeed, your reps need to prioritize prospecting. They need a consistently full pipeline of leads to call on if they’re going to bring in any new revenue.

Unfortunately, sales reps often despise sales prospecting because it leads to a lot of rejection—and it can be hard for them to handle the rejection. They could end up feeling unmotivated and demoralized by constantly hearing “no” or having prospects hang up on them or ignore their emails.

As sales manager, it’s your responsibility to motivate your sales team and to pass on helpful advice to get them to improve their performance, including their sales prospecting results.

So offer up these sales prospecting tips. Once they’re built into your reps’ daily routines, the leads will come flying in.

1. Target the Right People

The best sales people will tell you that, in order to succeed with prospecting, your reps need to aim high. Sales people often call too low in the company. They call people without any buying power. They call people without any decision-making power. And this isn’t effective. To sales prospect effectively, your reps need to reach high and get to those decision makers.

2. Focus on Providing Value

The honest truth is no one cares about your company’s history. To succeed when prospecting, your reps must provide value with every touch. They must focus on explaining how their prospects’ lives will be enriched by working with your organization. Sell the idea that the buyer’s time will be well spent before selling your offering or your company.

3. Ditch the Tricks

No one likes to feel like they’ve been fooled or tricked. And prospects are no exception. Trying to get them on the phone by saying they’re an old friend won’t do your reps any good. It’ll just result in a lack of trust and credibility. No tricks, no bending the truth, no cutting corners to generate a conversation. Your sales team absolutely must use the high-integrity approach.

4. Multiple Touches

Most sales reps will feel like they’re bothering prospects if they continue to call them over and over again. Though they certainly shouldn’t harass them, they shouldn’t give up after the first call, either. Buyers are busy, and it often takes seven, eight, or more touches to get through. Giving up too soon can lead to many lost opportunities.

5. Variety of Touches

If your sales team isn’t having any luck using sales email templates, then why not try snail mail, cold calling, or being introduced by social media? Maybe a prospect doesn’t pay much attention to his email but always answers his phone. You never know.

6. Warming up Prospects

Cold calling sucks. Everyone on your sales team knows it. Prospects are much more likely to offer a warm reception if your sales people turn themselves from strangers to acquaintances. By getting prospects familiar with their names or company affiliation, your reps will be less likely to be ignored.

Teach them to become thought leaders and get their names out in the industry, whether by writing guests articles, starting a blog, taking part in webinars, or being active on social media.

7. Qualify, Qualify, Qualify

One of the most important sales prospecting tips you can pass on to your sales team is the importance of qualifying. Without qualifying leads, your reps can waste a lot of time trying to track down and talk to prospects who will never buy in the first place. Make sure your sales people do their research and understand whether or not prospects are actually a good fit for your products or services.

Pass on these seven sales prospecting tips and improve the performance of your sales team.