Reasons to Offer Process Serving Services

• February 10, 2009
• by ServeNow.com Staff
• Business Tips

Reasons you should offer service of process as a PI

There’s a movement in investigation toward incorporating process serving into investigation businesses and for good reason. According to a poll in the PInow.com Yahoo! Group, 94 percent of investigators are also process servers. The benefits of adding this service are numerous. You can become a one-stop-shop for your existing customers, expand your business and gain revenue during slow periods.

Become a One-Stop-Shop

As an investigator, you are already serving the customers who are in need of process servers. Offer them a full suite of legal support or investigative services, to ensure you aren’t leaving money on the table. If you have an established customer base, your clients already trust you and know that you are reliable. Don’t let someone else garner their additional business.

If you are not offering process serving, you may not be serving all of your clients’ needs. Not only can you save clients time by offering multiple services, but you are making their lives simpler by having to work with one less vendor. This is a win-win situation for both you and your clients.

Use Process Serving to Grow your PI Business

Process serving is a great way to get your foot in the door with law firms, corporations and other prospective clients that may also need investigators. It is much easier to ask a potential client for a $60 process service job than asking thousands for an investigation retainer. Once you have shown your competence with service of process and earned the clients’ trust, you can upsell your bigger ticket investigation services.

Not only can process serving help you acquire more clients, it is quite common for a serve to turn into a investigation case if the subject is avoiding service and the client wants the person served at any cost. Cases like this may require a skip trace, surveillance and plenty of due diligence.

Gain Revenue During Slow Periods

Lately, the media outlets have been flaunting the “R” word. Each has a different outlook on when a recession is coming, how long it will last and what you can do to be ready. One constant in the economic future is that the legal process must go on. This includes service of process, which will always need to be rendered. Some may even say that process serving may be “recession-proof.”

Increased litigation due to bankruptcy, foreclosures and debt collection will make process serving in high demand during economic downturns.

Additionally, when the investigation side of your business is slow, process serving is a great way to keep your investigators busy. Process serving can provide consistent, ongoing monthly revenue. You already have many of the skills necessary to succeed in process serving, and the potential clients at your fingertips. If you are able to build a network of trusted servers, you can increase your business immensely.

By positioning yourself as a “one-stop-shop” for lawyers and other legal professionals you can expand your business and gain revenue during slow months. Adding process service to your investigation business can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line. To get started, you should contact your state to learn about the licensing requirements. Most states do not have stringent requirements to serve process.