Don't Waste Your Networking

I always thought that the time spent at networking meetings was to help you get more business and promote your brand. Whenever I got a lead or was told of someone who may be interested in my service, I tried to contact them the same day or no later than 24 hours later. But I guess that everyone does not feel that way and they just want to occupy a seat.

 Recently I had a friend who needed to change their business internet service from ATT because they kept getting interruptions in service. At a Business Alliance meeting a week ago I met a sales rep from Comcast Business and told her about the person who needed new internet service soon. She said she would contact them (it was the perfect lead for her) and tell them the advantages of Comcast and help them change. But she never showed up or even called my friend and 3 days later he changed to Century Link. Why would someone throw away a sure sale because they did not follow up?

My wife needed health insurance before the Obamacare dealine and I met another lady who sells insurance at a different networking group and told her to contact my wife. She was from Prudential but said she could also check out other health companies for the best deal. She never made the contact and my wife bought health insurance from someone else a week later. What's happening here? Is it because these two people worked for a big company and were on salary, not commission, so they didn't care if they got a sale? Or were they just too lazy to make the effort?  Why bother going to a networking meeting if you are just wasting everyone's time.