Business Networking Strategy

I constantly hear people at networking meetings ask for a contact and then say, "Why I want to talk to them is....." At the risk of delivering a jolt of reality, if you take this approach can I ask you a simple question: "What do they care?" If you want to generate business referrals for your business, don't tell people why you want to talk to their contacts. However much your fellow networkers want to refer you, they just won't know how. Once they are with their contact; the person you want to speak to; they will stumble as soon as they try to make the introduction.