At ConExpo-Con/Agg in 2008, Eagle Crushing Company Inc., a small, family-run business in the rock-crushing industry where I work, gave away wooden walking sticks with an eagle carved into the head. The freebies were so popular that we decided to bring them back for the next show in 2011. Based on the previous excitement, we planned to distribute up to 1,000 sticks on each of the show's five days.

We didn't anticipate, however, that the sequel would be more coveted than the original. By the second day of the show, lines of attendees – the vast majority of whom had no interest in our crushers – encircled our booth and snaked around neighbors' exhibits as well. What's worse, we stored the excess sticks in a shipping container located way at the back of the hall. Since we were struggling keeping up with demand, three staffers and I practically lived in that unventilated steel box feverishly unwrapping the giveaways that were individually encased in foam.

The biggest stick in the mud was that our salespeople weren't able to connect with viable leads. By the end of day two, something needed to change before I lost my mind. We didn't want to stop giving away the swag since it was a key traffic builder for real prospects. I just needed to find a way to dial down the enthusiasm a couple of notches.

So on day three, we decided to cut down on the freely available sticks and hold the majority for visitors who met with our salespeople. Before long, the lines dispersed and business reopened.

But then people figured out a workaround. Attendees would enter the booth and tell one of our staffers that they were "looking to get into" the crushing business. After consuming 20 minutes of a salesperson's time, they'd set up a sales call – which would likely never be returned – and score a couple walking sticks. Somehow news spread about this sneaky strategy, and the masses returned.

By the final day of the show, I'd managed to unwrap all the walking sticks, which allowed me to be in the booth and run interference for my staffers. I finally hit on a tactic that brought relief – and made a little money. Staffers started sending obvious frauds my way as quickly as they could ferret them out. I let the gift gatherers know that I wouldn't just give them a stick, but I was willing to strike a deal. So I haggled. The items were so popular that people paid $50 and even $100 for them. (I realize I may have "bent" a couple show-floor rules on selling items, but at the time, I was much more concerned with stopping the swag squad.) The seekers got their sticks, and my sales reps got to spend their time with serious customers.

Since then, the sticks have gone away. The silver lining is that our brand awareness definitely skyrocketed. We still have people stopping by our booth asking for the Eagle Crusher walking stick even though we haven't handed one out in nine years. I tell them no, but I do have a great rock crusher they could go home with instead. And I'm sticking with that.