Fire extinguisher service is one of the few B2B services where the customer is already required to do the work. OSHA's portable extinguisher rule (29 CFR 1910.157) says an employer that provides extinguishers for employees must see to a monthly visual inspection and an annual maintenance check on every one of them. Your pitch is to take that duty off a busy manager: one visit a year, a tag on every unit and a record they can show an inspector. Start with property managers, restaurants and shops that have 6 or more extinguishers.

The page covers what the rule says, five ways to find customers, a worked quarter for a made-up service company, the email to a property manager, and the habits that lose accounts.

What the customer is required to do

The text of 29 CFR 1910.157(e), as published by OSHA, says:

  • The employer is responsible for inspection, maintenance and testing of the extinguishers in the workplace.
  • Extinguishers must be visually inspected monthly.
  • Each one must have an annual maintenance check, and the employer must record the date of that check and keep the record for one year after the last entry or for the life of the shell, whichever is less.
  • Stored-pressure dry chemical extinguishers that need a 12-year hydrostatic test must be emptied and given maintenance procedures every 6 years, with exceptions for certain disposable units.
  • When an extinguisher is taken away for maintenance or recharging, the employer must provide alternate protection of equivalent effectiveness.

The last item is your sales point for a manager who worries about gaps: a loaner or an exchange unit is part of the job. Your local fire code may add its own requirements, so ask the fire marshal's office what your area expects and say so honestly to customers. This article summarizes one federal rule and is not legal advice for any one workplace.

Who has the most to gain from your visit

Rank prospects by the number of units and the cost of getting it wrong:

  • Multi-tenant property managers with common areas on several floors or buildings. One contract covers many extinguishers.
  • Restaurants and commercial kitchens that have cooking equipment, a landlord and a regular fire inspection.
  • Warehouses and light manufacturers with large spaces and a safety coordinator who likes tidy records.
  • Retail chains with several locations that want one invoice.

Anything with an annual inspection due is a recurring account. A customer who stays 8 years is worth far more than the first service call, so quote the annual relationship, not the first visit.

Five sources of customers

  1. The tag on someone else's extinguisher. While you are on a site, note the date on competitor tags and the number of units. A tag more than 12 months old tells you the account is overdue. Go back with a quote.
  2. Property managers. Build a list of every manager and owner of multi-tenant commercial property in your radius. See how to find commercial property owners to start.
  3. Restaurant and kitchen owners. Call early in the day, not during service. Offer to check every unit and mark them in one 30-minute visit.
  4. Referral partners. Alarm companies, sprinkler contractors, insurance agents and safety consultants are asked about extinguishers regularly and prefer to hand them to someone reliable. Read how safety consultants find clients for how that crowd thinks.
  5. Your own renewal calendar. Every account has a due date. Send a reminder 30 days out and again 10 days out. Customers who forget may switch to the first provider who calls.

A worked quarter for a made-up company

Say Steadfast Fire Safety in Tampa has 52 accounts and a technician with capacity for 20 more. The goal is 10 new accounts in 90 days.

  • Month 1: lists 90 property managers and restaurant groups within 30 miles. Sends 15 emails a day and calls the 25 with the most buildings.
  • Month 2: books 12 walk-throughs. At each, counts units, notes tag dates and writes a one-page quote showing per-unit pricing for the annual check.
  • Month 3: follows up each quote twice. Say 4 sign for one year, 6 ask to start next quarter. The six go on the renewal calendar with a call date.

These figures are invented. The sequence works with real numbers too: list, walk-through, quote, calendar.

The email to a property manager

Subject: Extinguisher tags at Harbor Point Plaza

Hi Renata, I noticed several extinguishers at Harbor Point had last year's tag dates when I visited a tenant there. OSHA requires an annual maintenance check, with the date recorded, on each unit in a workplace. I can check and tag every extinguisher in the common areas in one visit and send you a list you can file. Would a walk-through next Tuesday suit you?

Carl, Steadfast Fire Safety, 77 Bayshore Dr, Tampa. Reply "no thanks" and I won't write again.

Name only what you saw yourself. Include your postal address and an opt-out line, which CAN-SPAM requires in commercial email, as the Federal Trade Commission's guide to the law explains.

What to stop doing

  • Selling fear. Cite the rule and offer the schedule. Leave out burned-building stories.
  • Quoting only the first visit. Quote the full year, with the monthly check as an option.
  • Letting a due date pass without a call. The calendar is your most profitable lead source.
  • Treating a no as permanent. Record the tag date and the competitor's name, then contact them 45 days before it expires.

A list of property managers and restaurant owners within your service radius, emailed and followed up, is the kind of thing Rocketship does well. Describe who you want in plain words, and it finds the managers, reads each site, emails from your own Gmail, follows up and puts walk-throughs on your calendar. The walk-throughs and the quotes stay with you. The plans start at $12 a month on Starter, with up to 20 emails a day.