This is important. Repeat it: A case management system is an investment – not an expense.

We understand the reasons why professionals inquiring about an investigation management system are often preoccupied during the trial period with pricing plans and costs. Heck, few would argue that operating margins can be somewhat thin. We get it.

However, although costs are not irrelevant, that approach is arguably very short sighted. The right platform should in fact expect to save a business thousands of dollars, making the minimal cost of subscription plans insignificant. On top of that it should improve investigations, reporting and consistency… all of which will be received favorably internally and more importantly by your clients.

As stated in the title, an entity that conducts any type of investigation should view a case management platform as an investment rather than as an expense. This investment (in the right platform of course) will provide investment returns in many ways including but not limited to:

Investigative Efficiencies

The right platform more than anything else should be able to demonstrate that it is a vehicle to improve productivity and profits (built-in interfaces that reduce redundancy, ease of field input, etc.).

For example: Does your platform have an integration with a data provider? Can you run a vehicle search, comprehensive database report, and an address history on a subject without leaving your case file? This not only saves time, but the data is automatically placed into the file for the investigator(s) working the case.

Quality Controls

Poor or inconsistent reporting to clients, an inability to efficiently monitor fieldwork (and know the work was done correctly), a lack of the ability to measure performance etc. could and probably eventually will impair a firm’s reputation. That is of course to say it can cost you everything. Even if a right system helped preempt one of the above, the peace of mind alone might be worth it.

Administrative

Administrative – The ability for management to monitor the business easily and efficiently can keep fixed costs down and permit them to focus on maybe even greater priorities such as business development, employee relations.

Opportunity Costs

More and more, private investigation companies (and virtually all businesses) are automating and leveraging advanced systems to run their business. Think about the large investigative companies. They all utilized technology to run operations, schedule assignments and update the clients. Even if your business is fine right now, competition is getting keener.

 

Brad is the Vice President of Business Development at CROSStrax. He can be contacted at brad@crosstrax.co or 844-620-8555 x 700. Delvepoint partners with CROSStrax to provide skip tracing data within the CROSStrax case management software.