Retainer and Services
Private Investigations Retainer and Services
By paying a monthly retainer, you get a commitment to have an investigator available to you at any time. You get advice on small things with quick answers. So, you have a part-time investigator working for you, almost like an employee. A retainer provides:
A number of businesses or organizations benefit from having a part-time investigator on retainer. Such as:
Blue 6 offers a 10% discount on most work done under retainer. Background Queries are an exception.
Unbridled Synergy Explained
A very important concept is the “Unbridled synergy” item above. It refers to the natural inclination by both the PI and the client to not call on each other regarding what they consider to be small ideas that may be overly demanding. That resistance is there because money has not exchanged hands, and they each fear to put an unknown demand on the other. No one wants to jump into an unknown, unpaid for, situation unless an incident forces them to do so. A retainer removes that barrier. Ideas flow more naturally and produce useful results that would otherwise not happen. From the client perspective, when they have an idea, the retainer helps them feel they can call the PI at the drop of a hat because they have paid for that privilege. From the PI perspective, when they have an idea, they feel compelled to call the client because the client has paid them for that service. They no longer feel that maybe they are being pushy.
What is a Retainer?
Businesses often cannot afford in-house specialists such as an attorney or PI. But they can pay a monthly retainer for advice as needed. With a retainer, you do not have to be bothered with varying and miscellaneous expenses each month. Our retainer agreement does not require a contract period, and it keeps things streamlined, so you do not feel nickel and dimed.
For instance, in order to have an attorney on call, a client company will pay a monthly retainer. Each time an employee needs attorney advice, time is not spent first drawing up a contract and establishing advanced fees, etc. The client can simply pick up the phone and have a quick ad hoc conversation, get a quick answer, and move on. Other colleagues down the hall can call that same attorney with a quick question without having to file yet more expense reports for their additional contacts with the attorney.
Businesses pay website companies a monthly retainer, sometimes called a subscription or maintenance fee, to maintain their website operations wherein the service company updates the site and troubleshoots limited problems when needed. The client pays them to keep them available every month, even if not needed. One monthly fee easily covers small cost items without a lot of hassle and ensures that the firm can keep personnel and assets in place to serve their client when needed, like insurance.
Retainer Capacity
We recommend paying for 5-10 hours of service per month at a 10% discount. Call for rates. For time beyond that initial period, a regular hourly rate will apply. As stipulated above, the hours do not accumulate. They are paid at the beginning of the month and are good for only that month. If a business wishes to secure more time at a discount, then a different retainer amount can be agreed to. Some services are provided at normal rates. Costs are before sales tax.
Backgrounds
Any of our services can be used under that agreement and by anyone in your company up to the time limit. For instance, we do basic background queries for $400 (+ tax, which makes it $433), which is a pretty good package deal. Backgrounds do not receive a 10% discount because they are already considered a discounted item. This is much better than nationally advertised, cookie-cutter backgrounds. It includes professional forensic analysis, some secondary investigation, and a tailored summary report (written or verbal). Database-derived information can be used only for security purposes, not for financial decisions. For financial decisions, you must run a credit check, which we do not do. That stipulation is federal law.
Background queries help you to decide whether the person, business, or asset, is something with which you and your company wish to associate. Through databases the basic background query verifies identity information, criminal history, business associations, foreclosures, bankruptcies, liens, places lived, vehicles owned, licenses held, and many other items of possible interest. Background investigation beyond that will be billed at normal rates or for additional retainer time.
Vehicle Plates
We can run vehicle plates if you have vehicles on a property which require some investigation. Volume work will save you money.
Consultation
The consultation comes in many forms. One client needed limited due diligence work on their own client because they had concerns. They expressed the known issues but were uncertain about what the information meant. Then Blue 6 outlined a half dozen items to be considered by the client in order to assess their concerns and decide what path to take. The Blue 6 client became better informed and using the Blue 6 information, they were able to immediately arrive at a comfortable answer. They decided to include additional protections into their agreement with their client and to place new controls on the situation. They knew they were concerned, but they were not sure how to proceed. That is what security consulting can do for you.
Employment Due Diligence
Other clients have used Blue 6 to run basic background queries on every serious candidate for new employee positions. A client assessed which actions were reasonable to pursue regarding loss of funds in a fraud situation. Before spending additional money on the wrong things, they conferred with Blue 6.
Conclusion
A PI retainer can create a great safety net for most businesses and can save them a lot of money in the long run by having a professional advisor at their call which can help them avoid costly mistakes.