The foundation of Kaeser & Blair is built around providing best in class Dealer Support. Our large group of Dealer support personnel is comprised of industry professionals that are available to answer questions, conduct research, assist with orders, and provide answers to questions. We are here to help.
Our Kaeser & Blair Traveling University crosses the country with a team of experienced and knowledgeable division managers that offer ongoing support and training to dealers nationwide.
Kaeser & Blair provides an extensive library of online dealer assets to help dealers, including product research, pricing information, answers to frequently asked questions, online order submission and detailed information on your dealerships sales and performance. We bring you the most advanced tools to help you succeed.
Key Departments
The K&B Credit Department: We are here to serve our Dealers!Our sole purpose is to protect K&B's investment and our Dealers' profit. K&B offers open account terms to credit worthy accounts. We accept full responsibility to investigate, approve credit and invoice your customers directly. This leaves our Dealers with more time to sell and relieves them of the financial burden of carrying the accounts. Our credit specialists are trained in credit investigation. They have the ability to access several credit reporting agencies with combined data bases of over 15 million businesses nationwide. We are often able to provide instant credit approval. We therefore accept liability for collections of past due accounts, keeping you fully informed along the way. Kaeser and Blair also offers the convenience of payment by any of four charge card systems, Visa, Master Card, American Express or Discover. All collections are approached with respect, ethically and legally, and with the professional courtesy that one would expect from a firm that has been successfully doing business for over 100 years.
K&B Art Department
Image is everything! It is vitally important for any company to project just the right image. Sending the right message will take full advantage of their investment in promotional advertising products. Our "in-house" art department has worked with thousands of customers and they are experts at cleaning up and designing logos, special type styles and layouts specifically designed for promotional advertising products. Kaeser and Blair is among the very few distributors to offer this service. Most competitors rely on commercial art studios or advertising agencies, that charge by the hour for each piece reproduced. While many factories also have art departments, using K&B's art department allows our Dealer to control the quality and the cost of the art even if the customer is purchasing several different products from multiple sources. We offer our service at "flat" competitive rates. We also provide additional reproductions and a proof for approval at no additional charge. There simply is no better source for artwork in our industry than the K&B Art Department, available exclusively to K&B Dealers.
Information Technology
Sharing information at incredible speed is no longer an option. To maintain our leadership position in the promotional products industry and insure the growth of every Dealer in our organization, we must stay abreast of the latest technology in computer networking, telecommunications and the internet.Our technology applications and efficiencies are state-of-the-art and cuting edge. A huge advantage for Kaeser and Blair Dealers.
Accounting: Vital to the Success of Every K&B Dealer
The responsibilities of the K&B accounting department are vital to our smooth operation. They guarantee the continuation of our sterling, untarnished financial reputation that has taken us over a century to earn. This department is responsible for invoicing your customers, applying the funds as they are received and paying our suppliers. All of the dedicated employees in this department make certain K&B maintains its impeccable 4A1 credit rating by paying all of our over 110,000 invoices within terms, even early if the vendor offers cash discounts. It's no wonder our suppliers cooperate so willingly with our marketing department. We are within the top 1% of the industry for timely payments.
Key Support Personnel
Nancy Lewellen - Order Services Manager
Nancy joined Kaeser and Blair ten years ago. She started as a Dealer Service person, moved to Century Club and became Order Services Manager in 1999.
She has been involved in, and has suggested, many changes that have improved the efficiency of processing orders as well as shortening the processing time.
Nancy has 31 years of experience in this industry. Prior to Kaeser and Blair she managed the office for a distributor in Columbus, Ohio for four years and prior to that was with a major distributor for seventeen years. She held several positions and her last position was that of sales manager of a group of 250 sales people.
She is dedicated to the processing of orders as quickly and accurately as possible for the purpose of meeting shipping schedules and making sure our dealers are paid commissions in a expedient way.
Rick Rolfes - Credit Manager
After attending Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati for 3 years, Rick Rolfes began his career at Kaeser &
Blair in 1988 working in the credit department and helping getting orders processed "the old fashioned way." He worked
his way up to Credit Manager before leaving in 1996 to explore an opportunity with a local law firm specializing in
collections. Rick returned to K&B in 2005 with a wealth of additional knowledge and again heads up the Credit and
Collections department.
With an innate ability to apply common sense to the most difficult credit decisions Rick is utilizing his 20 years of
experience to protect not only Kaeser's largest asset, but also the dealer's commission to insure credit worthy customers
and timely payments. With a staff of six, he is continuing to look for ways to improve the efficiency of the department
Kathleen McManes - Century Club Support Manager
Kathleen joined Kaeser and Blair in 1989. She began as an Executive Assistant, later became the Office Manager and in 1998 assumed the responsibility of Century Club Support Manager.
As manager of this department her goal is to provide the best dealer support in the industry helping our dealers grow their dealerships, increase their incomes and service their customers.
Prior to joining Kaeser and Blair in 1989 Kathleen worked with a major wearables supplier for three years. Before this she was involved in customer service work in another industry.
Kathleen brings a wealth of industry and business experience to her position.
Scott Baker - IT Manager/Network Administrator
Heading up our IT Department is Scott Baker. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science from Northern Kentucky University and had previously earned an Associate degree in graphic design from Antonelli College. As Network Administrator Scott must make sure everything works, all the time! No simple task, but critical to the success of every K&B Dealer.
Scott also mans the KaeserCentral help desk and happily helps dealers utilize the benefits of this revolutionary dealer management tool. Working closely with the K&B Executive team, Scott is constantly striving to enhance the site and its' ability to serve the needs of our dealer network.
Donna Smith - Accounting Manager
Managing the many responsibilities of the Accounting Department is our Accounting Manager, Donna Smith. Beyond overseeing the timely payment of dealer commissions, Donna manages a staff of 10 that process 10,000+ vendor invoices a month and is charged with maintaining K&B's exemplary credit reputation. She also has responsibility of making sure that sales tax returns are computed, billed and returns filed in all 44 states with sales tax legislation.
Donna came to Kaeser & Blair after working in the accounting department of a local hospital. She has been with the company since 1996 and is a valued member of the company management team.
Mike Jacobs - Warehouse/Shipping Manager
Kaeser & Blair's Warehouse and Shipping Manager, Mike Jacobs, actually started his career with the company in our Credit Department processing orders. After gaining a valued understanding of the company and our process, Mike moved into management and now supervises the processing of product samples, supplier catalogs and our monthly Windjammer distribution. As a master of organization, Mike has implemented many new ideas and is constantly striving to improve the efficiency of our shipping, mailing and receiving processes. Approaching 10 years with the company, Mike has become an important member of our team.