Introducing
“The Smart Box”

Then exploding onto the scene was the Smart Box. We realized as with most business
CEO’s, CFO’s CIO’s and all the C Suite  have no time nor patience to read anything that is
mailed to them from unknown companies. They are heavily relationship based as far as their
selection with the vendors they do business with. So the program has to be,
world class and send a unique message.

The idea was to develop a multi-media program that would tell the story.
This company uses the internet to connect manufactures of high tech equipment to their end
customers…you. A multi-media program is a great idea but you have to get your
prospects to put a CD in their drive ..which sometimes can be difficult. So we developed
the concept of the Smart Box..

The Smart Box is a direct marketing concept that was designed with the customer in
mind.

Imagine this:

You are working diligently on a project with your mind focused solely on the success of

your project. You don’t want to be disturbed by anything or anybody when your assistant

knocks on your door and says

“Hey Boss, you have to see this”

She brings you a Halliburton aluminum case. On the outside of the case is a label that

instructs you to lift off a special combination. With your curiosity peaked, you dial in

the combination, unlock the case and open the cover. There in front you sits a Mac

laptop and a Nokia cell phone.

You quickly see a label that directs you to turn on the computer. In no time, a

stunning 5 minute multi-media presentation unfolds before you. You sit back delighted. The

program instructs you to you reach for the Nokia cell phone and as directed, you dial the

#1 button. You are instantly connected to a company sales representative that gives you

additional information and, of course, he takes the appointment.In a matter of 20 minutes, you have been given useful information and can return to

your other business at hand. All parties benefit here.

Whether you go with this compnay or not, what is your first impression of their company? How
bad do you think they want your business?

It does no good to have a direct marketing program that doesn’t appeal to your
potential clients. The Smart Box has not only dramatically increased
that company’s response rate, but it has also changed the way they are perceived by their clients.

Results:

New clients such as Intel, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, etc… are all responding to
their offer.

You may be wondering at this point how much does this cost?… Look at it this way,
their entry level service is a $100,000 sale. With a 55% response rate and a 50%
conversion rate….. who cares?

This is the question this company was courageous enough to ask;

• What is a 55% response rate worth to our business?
• Should you be asking yourself the same question?

McAllaster & Associates is an independent investment brokerage firm who provides

services in securities, investment portfolio management, financial planning, and financial

consulting. They also produce outrageous in-house informational seminars/workshops on a

variety of sophisticated financial topics. Securities are offered through D.E. Frey &

Co., Inc.

McAllaster & Associates has created a new, aggressive style of marketing…a

strategy that incorporates many unique features not found anywhere in the securities

industry that truly focuses on new acquisition and retention activities using very

unconventional
strategies. These features include:

1). A customer focused stock brokerage firm:

That statement could be considered an oxymoron in the securities industry. Establishing

a unique customer focused identity was a top marketing priority to McAllaster &

Associates. They wanted to communicate friendliness and a personal, one to one

relationship style of service while maintaining a perception of stability, and expertise

within the stock brokerage and financial management industry. Thus, a highly

unconventional marketing program was developed which represented those customer elements

and was immediately applied to everything they released from their office. They saturated

a highly targeted market niche with their new corporate image.

This proposition is bold and aggressively reverses the stereotypical “risk”

of investing through a broker. It is a clearly defined statement addressed to the client

which contains a specific guarantee and powerfully reverses the perceived risk the client

may take on.

“If the stock we have recommended for you does not increase in value in the first

year, we’ll sell it for you, with absolutely no commission received on our end.”This is highly unique because all brokers get paid their commission whether your stock

which
they recommended

goes up or down.

This outrageous promise has literally set the stage on fire for clients to inquire
about services with intense intrigue. Increase has been over 62% the last 5 months.

This system is a money machine! It incorporates ingenuity at its best coupled with the

personal touch, while generating clients at a rate never seen before. It uses a common

sense approach, while intriguing, and rewarding the client base for their loyalty. This

program has been one of the keystones of the entire marketing program.For every referral they receive from a client, they send them 1 beautiful crystal wine

glass from Tiffany’s (out of a complete collection of 6 glasses) and a hand written thank

you card. The receipt of this elegant glass creates the impulsive desire for the complete

set! Consequently motivating the client to provide more referrals! And that’s not

all…McAllaster & Associates also gives the referred client their first 10 stock

trades free (no commission!). Up to date they are receiving 10-$500,000 referred clients

per week…impressive to say the least!

This program is practically unheard of in the industry, and entirely customer-driven!
It is also measurable. Which, in turn, has spawned new generations of marketing ideas,
leading to dramatic, multi-level profitable results!

While all of the above marketing programs (features) were implemented, THE KEY

MARKETING FEATURE OF ALL TIME, was being constructed behind the scenes. This feature is

the one that will prove to be the most influential and powerful of all the strategic

marketing elements in their entire system. The McAllaster Financial Center broke ground in

February, 1997, and completed the construction in its entirety by June 25th. The 8,500

square foot facility strategically resides in one of the most elite neighborhoods in

Savannah Georgia, “The Landings”: A state-of-the-art financial center designed

entirely for the clients.

1. 1,200 square foot multi-media seminar room for his clients to use for their special

events. He also uses it for his financial seminars. 2. An impressive, comprehensive

financial library for research open only to his clients. Prospects will be able to utilize

the facilities for the first 5 months, but on 1/1/98 it will be a ‘client only’ facility.

This allows the prospects to experience the value of the amenities that McAllaster &

Associates’ clients enjoy, thereby creating a sense of urgency for the prospects to become

clients.3. The largest electronic financial ticker in the South.

4. Computers to provide hands-on access to the internet for his clients to research
anything they desire.

5. Private offices are provided so his clients may stop by to make phone calls to Wall
Street or any other use they may have.

6. Golf cart re-chargers located in the parking lot of the Center. You see, most of the
transportation on The Landings is done via the golf cart! There are not 4, not 5, but 6
PGA golf courses on this island, which are patronized by a majority of the Landings
residents. This Financial Center, its staff, and personal services is truly an
extraordinary experience!

7. A social gathering area for his clients to mingle, read, and simply relax away from
the Savannah sun.

Richard (Dick) E. McAllaster has always been conscious of his community environment and

constantly seeks out ways to give back to the community which has provided ample

opportunity for his business to succeed. In January, 1997, he proposed to the local

Women’s Guild that McAllaster & Associates take on the title sponsorship of the

Savannah Duck Race on the Savannah River. This annual event is a local favorite and

coincides with the annual Seafood Festival. The Duck Race was created 5 years ago as a

fundraising mechanism to support the Savannah Symphony.The 4-year old annual ‘Savannah Duck Race’ became the ‘McAllaster Duck Classic’ this

past Spring and will continue to be sponsored by McAllaster & Associates for years to

come. A Duck Classic logo was created to reflect a combination of the McAllaster &

Associates company logo and the duck race itself. T-shirts with the emblem were made and

sold, tickets were created, and articles written about the event to help promote it.

McAllaster & Associates directed their $5,000 contribution toward this entity to
help keep the arts alive and well in Savannah. It also became an extraordinary marketing
move because of his targeted niche market who patronizes the symphony events all year
long. Most symphony season ticket holders fit McAllasters “A” market clientele
profile. With his sponsorship backed marketing and assistance in promoting, he was able to
pull in a record amount of funding dollars for the symphony.

The originality of each of the aforementioned features along with their focus are

extraordinary and extremely rare in this industry. This

industry is traditionally

a

huge behemoth of

non-personal, product driven, non-relationship building and the
proverbial “glass house” mentality

that is driven by sheer size alone! His

competition’s idea of customer service is sending you thousands of the same letters that

are not even signed in real ink. It’s printed! Now does that make anyone feel special?

When was the last time you received a “Thank You” written on personalized

stationery from your broker? The McAllaster & Associates strategies not only hit hard

on the customer service side, but also on the vast knowledge and awareness of the variety

of financial products they offer which truly separates them from their competition.The extraordinary, yet fundamental characteristics of these strategies is simple:

Execution and follow-through! You can promise the world but without proper follow through,

IT’S WORTHLESS! McAllaster has been adamant with their follow through. They truly take

those extra steps, develop a client friendship, provide consistent superior customer

service, and make up for the difference if and when any of the above, for one reason or

another, doesn’t happen to the clients’ complete satisfaction. It truly becomes a PLEASURE

to hire McAllaster & Associates as your financial manager!

d). How difficult was it to implement your marketing strategy?:

They designed it to be executed in stages. Each stage had its purpose, objectives, and

goals. Upon the completion of each stage they rapidly became a multi-layered and

multi-faceted marketing system. The only inherent difficulty was listening to all the

“naysayers” in the securities business that said it would never work. “It’s

too outside the box,” or “it’s too unconventional,” etc.

f.) Describe the role, if any, that technology has played.

Technology has played a great role in many facets of this program. Not only were most

of the design and development produced 1,800 miles away, everything was digitally designed

and produced. McAllaster & Associates also uses the latest technology in the

multi-media seminar room which is just a small example of the state-of-the-art innovation

that has lent itself to a uniquely, client-friendly facility. From electronic shades and

presentation screens, to a satellite link for instant downloads of stock quotes, to the

capability for high-tech, multi-media seminar presentations, professional lighting, and

digital production.

Question 2: Concept Originality

a). What were the precise objectives of your marketing program?

The precise, planned objective was to increase business 100% within 18 months of the

rollout of the marketing program.

b). How did the idea develop and what were the outside influences.

The idea developed because the Landings area in Savannah, Georgia is the 8th highest

income per capita zip code in the country. In talking with the residents of the Landings,

it was determined that they did not want to leave the island to acquire services from

grocery shopping, the beauty salon, to automotive services. So, consequently, a strategic

advantage would be captured and an enormous opportunity would exist by building the

McAllaster Financial Center just outside the residential gate, and adjacent to the island

shopping center,

on the only road in and out of the island.

The advantage becomes

apparent when you consider other brokerage firms are “centrally located” in

their glass towers within the city of Savannah, whereas McAllaster & Associates is

centrally located within the Landings, his highly targeted niche. So he went from a

centralized, general market scope, to a highly focused, specifically targeted community

who could completely satisfy his established client profile agenda.

c). Is this the first and only application of its kind? Detail any unique features
of the concept.

YES! McAllaster & Associates is the first known independent brokerage firm to have

developed such unconventional and unique marketing approaches and incorporate their

building structure as a main part of the marketing strategy. The Financial Center

represents a huge, powerful billboard in and of itself, sitting directly in the midway of

the entrance and exit of the Landings at Skidaway Island.

d). How does this marketing program compare to that of your competition?

The competition are the major wire house brokerage firms. They use conventional,

institutional advertising, mass mailing, and cold calling as their primary marketing

strategy coupled with a “large net” catch all mentality which would never work

with “A” clients. McAllaster & Associates’ personal one to one marketing

approach is to focus on the client. The Landings, which generates the greatest percentage

of growth in the Savannah area because of its high net worth per capita, represents a

large group of clients whose investment relationships are in transition. They’re moving

from their home-towns in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, where they grew up and

developed business relationships. These relationships are now experiencing change and as a

natural consequence, must change to suit their new location, environment, etc. McAllaster

& Associates has positioned themselves to be central in easing their relationship

transition through convenience, educational workshops, seminars, research tools, access to

digital communications, expert financial consulting, and professional brokerage services.

McAllaster & Associates stepped up the marketing assistant position within the

firm, hired marketing interns, and developed a solid corporate identity with a new logo

utilizing the independent firm name rather than the clearing house name. The focus on

using the firm name resulted in a much higher name recognition based on a small field

study comparing the awareness the market had of the clearinghouse name and the business.

When it was compared, 30% remembered the clearing house name vs. 95% who remembered

McAllaster & Associates. Along with the new logo, a full array of materials such as

stationery, business cards, pocket folders, binders, advertisements and gift items to

include golf towels, golf balls, engraved glasses…all sporting the new corporate logo

and name. Consistency and saturation was the major key.

McAllaster & Associates experienced no real obstacles. The only perceived barrier

was the element of time. Managing the precise sequential implementation of the marketing

program while building the McAllaster Financial Center, and at the same time running a

profitable business became the only monster challenge for them to manage. Most of what

other businesses may perceive as obstacles were looked at as an opportunity. MCALLASTER

& ASSOCIATES HAS

ONLY 6 EMPLOYEES!

Question 4: Benefits and success of the program.

a). What methods do you use to measure the success of the marketing program internally
and within the marketplace?

The way McAllaster & Associates determine the success of their marketing program

rollout is two-fold. The first is the increase in the customer base and the increase in

the commissions that are generated from that base. A significant increase in business has

already been realized. Within the last 6-months of business, the firm has experienced an

increase in growth of 62%! They are currently generating 10 $ 500,000 clients per week

using the referral-based system. The interesting element regarding this result is the fact

that the “grand finale” of the marketing program has not even occurred yet (the

Grand Opening of the McAllaster Financial Center.)

It will surely be the marketing coup
of all time for a small business!b). What was the most important customer or client benefit?

The entire marketing program is customer focused and customer driven. The most

important client benefits evolve around on the new Financial Center. These benefits

include extreme convenience (can ride bikes or drive golf carts to location), a fully

comprehensive research library, as well as the educational benefits of informative

financial seminars, workshops, and investment courses.

c). What is the most important overall benefit to your company?

One of the most important benefits to McAllaster & Associates is that this

positioning solidifies his base of business. It allows the focus towards one specific,

large group of qualified clients. This environment creates an ideal habitat for creative,

efficiently effective, highly focused marketing efforts that work! In other words, the

market is very easily identifiable and truly accessible which results in the elimination

of wasted marketing expenses, testing, and searching for the most profitable markets. It

allows them to compete fiercely with the “Big Guns.”

d). Has the program achieved its objectives?

Currently the program in still in its infancy. The simple fact that the Financial

Center has yet to open its doors to the Landings community (due to open for full business

services in mid July, 1997), and already the marketing efforts toward this objective have

increased growth 62% in the past 5 months. The initial goal was to increase growth 100%

within 18 months of the rollout of the program. McAllaster & Associates anticipates

doubling the growth after the doors of the McAllaster Financial Center open. This is an

outstanding achievement when you consider that Dick McAllaster started his independent

firm only 4 years ago from nothing!

You develop a “high-end” gift for your clients that they can see, touch, and
feel from a tangible point of view. It should define why your clients are important to you
and what you are trying to communicate to them. Where in your industry have you ever seen
someone send out a Million Dollar theme box for their clients? Given the mind-set of many
companies these days, this would put your miles ahead of your competition.

When was the last time you received a classy box that was relative to your lifestyle
and your achievement status?

There are few companies turning out direct Marketing like this, especially to what we
consider your “A” Clients. If there are direct Marketing items being sent, the
items probably do not represent or appeal to this caliber of client base.

Here are two examples of theme boxes that we came up with.