Post on 23-Jan-2015
description
The relationship between a Private Investigator and their client – Experience in
reporting really does count
An age old question must be “What does the client really want….”. This is a perplexity drawn
like a cart by a horse through the ages and always intertwined with the buyer seller relationship
when it comes to service provision, and it’s no different with Private Investigation work.
The real question might actually be “What does the client need?”. What a Private Investigation
client wants and needs are all too often choices or options which may or may not lead to the
real and conclusive outcome in the best interests of the client. Emotions, finances, reputational
risk, and a host of other factors come into play when the client envisages the “board” on which
the die is cast requiring a specialist to look at examine and assemble the real facts into an
unemotional pragmatic, presentable, logical display of the truth which can be grasped, used
and where necessary produced in a court of law.
Our research indicates that a Private Investigation client wants a report that identifies areas
that jump out at them, that they can relate to, that they can identify to – and that they can use.
These will become the foundations and corner stones of legal arguments and court cases or
the fulcrum in decision making for discontinuing action or pursuing as far as possible. The
client will want to do something – with a purpose. However that doesn’t make the whole report
less important or less valuable – it only means that the client’s priorities are different at the
time of reading to what they may have been before receiving the report or say six months
down the line, or even years later.
Quality and Value for Money
Who hasn’t felt cheated when buying something before ? – nobody. We all have. The truth is,
when we get quality and value for money, no one ever or hardly ever has reason to complain.
Because of the nature of the work, a Private Investigation client generally won’t accompany
the investigator on an enquiry, so they won’t see the dress code or the driving, they won’t
know if the time keeping is good or bad, they won’t witness the interview or the conversations
with people and they probably won’t see how information is actually obtained. What they will
get however is the final report, substantiated by photographs, where applicable audio and
videos as well as transcripts, GPS logs and phone calls made – and whatever else it takes to
make sure that every single fact presented is irrefutable uncontroversial and laid bare – as the
absolute truth. Clients judge a Private Investigator on the layout, presentation, content and
assembly of the report – demanding in many cases the simplicity of a Microsoft style Windows
logic on every page, in every statement, reference or quotation. It is reasonable that the client
gets a 100% mistake and error free presentation and in an easy to read format that they can
reference, access and adapt whenever and where ever they want.
Unbiased Reporting is Crucial
The initial briefing from a client may determine the scope and focus of the investigation, but
it’s flawed for a Private Investigator to jump to conclusions. The final report to be delivered
must not only answer all their initial questions and satisfy their initial thirst for information but
must also answer pragmatically all the natural questions surrounding their initial concept for
discovery and investigation that could arise.
By their area of expertise, a Private Investigator can give considered opinions but speculation
is not helpful, just factual support through obvious relevance. It is also vital that an investigator
highlight obvious facts that may be relevant, even if the client decides they are not.
Who’s the Boss?
A Private Investigation client generally wants to see what was done to achieve the end results,
how it was done – but mostly, that it was actually done. The paying client is boss, therefore
from the client’s perspective they want to see the footage of videos referred to, they want the
photos taken, but not used in the report, they want the copies of notes referred to, they want
the transcripts referenced and they want them all – easy to access, easy to use and easy to
keep. And unless otherwise instructed, they want the Private Investigator to keep a copy too
– so that where ever they are – whenever they need information – they can call – and they will
expect their investigator to say – “ Yes - Certainly no problem…”