When he’s not making the rounds in his 24’ Mac Tools Freightliner, you might find Bill Kaser at the beach, windsurfing or paddle boarding. Or maybe up in the mountains catching some fresh powder at a ski resort or racing mountain bikes. Suffice it to say, this laid-back Southern California tool dealer has a sense of adventure, and he knows the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
“It's important to have another life, because this [job] can get all-encompassing very quickly,” Kaser says. “You can't get to the point where you burn out. Once you get burned out, you're done.”
It’s not all fun and games for Kaser, a 33-year veteran of the tool industry located in the San Fernando Valley. “If you're not willing to work 70 hours a week, forget about it,” he advises people interested in becoming a tool dealer. “It's all about taking care of the [customers].”
Kaser goes above and beyond to take care of his customers. From warranty work to custom ordering special toolboxes, he even goes so far as to shrink wrap socket sets, wrench sets and the like.
He does this for a few reasons: “Number one, it looks more professional,” he says. “Number two, I don't lose product due to pilferage. Number three, the guy before the guy who buys it who had greasy hands and handles the tool - the thing looks like it's been around the block a few times.”
Kaser knows about what technicians want - and what their managers think about tool dealers - from his prior career working at Firestone. He started off part time while he was in college, and after graduating quickly worked his way up to running a store.
“I had knowledge about running a service department,” Kaser says. “I think that's pretty crucial for somebody getting into the business, to have some management feel.”
Because of his experience, Kaser knows that many service managers see tool dealers as time wasters, taking their technicians’ attention away from the job. Kaser is able to reassure them, noting that the more customers he sees in a day, the more money he makes, so it’s in everyone’s best interest not to drag out a shop visit longer than necessary.
Kaser’s urban route consists of mostly dealerships, automotive shops and aircraft maintenance facilities. One of his stops is Van Nuys Airport where an old friend and long-time customer owns a business.
“He allows me to [park] my truck here, and I can use part of his hangar to store toolboxes,” Kaser says. “He's really helped me out a lot over the years. I'm very fortunate in that respect, because you can't park at anywhere more secure than where I'm parked right now.”
Kaser doesn’t have any solid plans to retire in the immediate future. He mentions that if the right investor came along and wanted to take over his route, he would work with them for “a good six months” to help them get comfortable with the route and introduce them to the customers.
With his friendly demeanor and laid-back SoCal attitude, it’s easy to see why Kaser has been successful in his business for more than three decades. If a customer asks why they should make a purchase from him rather than the big-box store down the road, he jokes, “You get to see my happy, smiling face every week.”
