There's a never-ending debate in our world about which buyers are worth spending time with... and which are not. Some proclaim that the only buyer business we should pursue is that which will likely lead to a closing within the next 60 days or so; others (myself included) don't 
mind spending time with someone who will probably buy a house someday, even if that someday is 6 months from now or longer.
These debates also usually include passionate discussion into whether or not to require pre-approval or buyer agency before allowing a buyer to "waste" an agent's valuable time.
To each his or her own. I run my business my way; you are free to run yours your way. It's a beautiful country, ain't it?
Anyway, I recently participated in such a debate over at Agents Online (www.agentsonline.net), a forum where I've been a moderator for the last few years. As is typical, my voice (and Perky's) were on one side of the debate, with pretty much everyone else on the other. Frankly, that's why I hang out there - I kinda like the opportunity to soapbox on my philosophies knowing they'll be argued with. And from a mercenary perspective, I've noticed that whenever the debates get hot and heavy, activity in my bookstore picks way up.
But I digress (again). Sorry.
There was a comment made by a participant something along the lines of how his time is much more productively spent on prospecting activities rather than working with buyers. Um... okay. Am I missing something here? Isn't the point of prospecting to bring in buyers (or sellers) to work with?
Okay, to be fair, I think his point was that he'd rather spend time looking for what he considers a "perfect" buyer (one who will buy an expensive property quickly) rather than waste time on someone less motivated and less profitable. That if he spends 3 hours searching for that perfect buyer (or seller) instead of driving around with the imperfect one, it's a better payoff. I get that (I guess, actually, I really don't). But again, it's a choice and I respect that.
Here's my point, though (finally).
Our industry so enthusiastically celebrates the virtues of militarized prospecting that many seem to forget why we're doing all this prospecting. I see this all the time - agents bemoan the fact that they don't have enough business, but in the next breath, complain that the business they do attract with their efforts isn't, basically, good enough. So, they, basically, chase it off. My friend Susan Haughton said it best - "It is astounding how many roadblocks agents put up in front of the prospects they burn up so much shoe leather to obtain."
I have about 5 more blogs on this topic burning a hole on my keyboard, so if you like this one, stand by for more. But for today - the moral of the story is: Unless you are so darn busy with well-qualified, motivated, gotta-have-it-now buyers (or sellers), don't fret if the business you have isn't moving as quickly as your mentors seem to think it should. There ain't nothing wrong with a full pipeline!
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