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Hours: 8
AM-4:30 PM |
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Just for
fun:
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AAA FIRE : A LOCALLY
OWNED COMPANY SERVING SEATTLE & WESTERN WASHINGTON SINCE 1953
Affordable
Fire Safety Solutions
Commercial ~ Industrial ~
Restaurant
Fire and Safety Equipment, Supplies & Support
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FIREWATCH
! Article |
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Story by Jessica Glau Sixteen Years ago, as the owner of a
small cable television business, Brian Krinbring was more
concerned about "Db levels" and "signal-to noise ratios" than he
was about the ABCs of the fire protection business. That
all changed in the spring of 1985 when he purchased AAA Fire &
Safety in Seattle, Washington. "I was actually looking for
a cable acquisition when I came across |
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| Brian says. "The company intrigued me because it had many fundamental similarities with cable; it was primarily a service business, had a recurring customer base, utilized technicians in trucks to provide service to the customer in the field, and, best of all, its services were mandated by law. Because of the business similarities, I figured most of the skills I had developed in the cable business would be transferable." | ||
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Brian found the transition from cable to the fire protection business more difficult than he had expected. "Part of the reason the learning curve was so long was there were no industry-wide business statistics available. Therefore, I didn't have any objective standards by which I could measure performance. I knew performance measurements for the cable business, but those were not applicable to the fire protection business.." |
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NAFED has recently started to publish industry-wide performance statistics. "I would have killed for that information in 1985," he notes somewhat ruefully. But he did ifind help at the NAFED sectional conferences. "I found the NAFED meetings invaluable at that time because I could talk with owners and get an idea about what they were doing and what they considered normal. Each year after a NAFED conference, I would come back with new information that I could apply to AAA Fire & Safety to make it more profitable and more efficient." |
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The past sixteen years have taught Brian a lot about fire extinguisher sales and service, and, like many other business owners, he has had his share of challenges. "Probably the greatest challenge I faced at AAA Fire & Safety was introducing and implementing modern business practices. When I purchased the company in 1985, it was, as it is today, one of the largest portable fire extinguisher sales and service companies in Seattle/Pacific Northwest." Although the business may have been substantial, Brian encountered a huge technology gap. "The problem I faced was that it was being run like the small mom-and-pop operation it had been in the '50's. For example, when I took over, AAA Fire & Safety had thousands of service accounts, all being accounted for by and on a customer card file!" |
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Brian faced other hurdles as well. "For example, all the technicians were independent contractors. That meant they all owned their own trucks and equipment, and they came and went as they pleased, dressed in all different types of clothing. I believed the independent contractor model was inappropriate for the life safety business. I felt that if my company name was going to be put on a fire extinguisher, I needed to control the quality of work that was being done. To me that meant my guys would all wear company shirts, drive company-owned vans, and have a uniform way of doing business." The transition between managing styles has not been completely smooth. "Believe me, when I stood up in front of a room full of independent fire technicians, some of who had been working with the company for fifteen years, and informed them of my intended changes, I pretty much caused a full-scale revolt. But I weathered the storm and , one by one, hired new fire technicians as employees." |
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It has been Brian's management philosophy that has seen him through and allowed his company to prosper. "I believe in hiring adult, professional people, giving them goals, and expecting high performance--then I get out of the way and let them do it." Brian knows that he doesn't have all the answers, so he hires qualified people who do. " I overcame some major obstacles in the early years--no question about it. But the company really didn't take off until I brought in a management team that was not only capable, but also trust-worthy. That team, made up of Mike Collyer, sales manager, Linda Boudreau, comptroller, and my brother Jim in operations, has been with me ever since. They, along with all the talented people they have hired, have made AAA Fire & Safety the success it is today," Brian says. |
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Jim Krinbring |
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Today the transformation from the '50's is essentially complete. "AAA Fire & Safety now has a fully computerized accounting department, a fleet of clean new vans with the AAA Fire & Safety logo on each one, and a tech force made up of top-quality employees who only know one way of doing the job--the right way. Even their business mix has undergone a dramatic transformation. As a result, AAA Fire & Safety today is one of the Pacific Northwest's premier fire safety companies." |
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Brian never forgets that the key to AAA Fire & Safety's success lies in its employees. "one holdover from the 'old days' is the way we treat our field technicians. We give them a great amount of autonomy. We encourage them to think of their customer base as if they were running their own small business. Thus, it is their responsibility to give their customers great service, not the company's.' In this vein, we have each tech take his van home, do his own route planning, schedule his service calls, call the customer when necessary, and write up his own invoices. This eliminates the need for AAA Fire & Safety to have a scheduling and dispatch function. More importantly, it keeps the technicians focused on the fact that the customer is the ultimate boss!" |
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