Francois McKinnon: Welcome to the Miami PI Chronicles podcast. I am your host Francois McKinnon from McKinnon Investigative Team.
Oscar Santamaria: And I am Oscar Santamaria of Optimum Investigations.
Francois McKinnon: We created this podcast with the goal to educate, inform and entertain aspiring beginner and seasoned professionals in the investigative field. With over 60 years of combined experience we offer invaluable insights and lessons learned. While we may not have all the answers, our knowledge can certainly benefit anyone interested in this dynamic profession. So sit back, listen and enjoy these episodes. Please do not forget to like, share and follow.
Oscar Santamaria: Hey Francois, how are you doing today?
Francois McKinnon: I am doing great. How about you? What a week we have had.
Oscar Santamaria: Yes we had. We were off a week but we are back now. We had our meet and greet last Monday and it was a fairly good turnout for our first little soiree. I thought it was wonderful.
Francois McKinnon: People came out, private investigators, lawyers and people who actually listened to our show and enjoyed. I love the resort. I thought the resort was beautiful. The food that they gave out, the drinks. I mean it was incredible and the service was impeccable and the people’s attitude were like up to what I like in life. Not the bullshit black tie crap. They were just wonderful.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah it was real casual. The weather cooperated. The food was good and the refreshments. I mean they really did a nice job and I just want to thank Frank Tallarico, Mike McClurkin, Joseph Payne, Mike Strand and everyone at the Ocean Manor Beach Resort.
Francois McKinnon: They were just incredible service and I recommend anybody who is in the Fort Lauderdale area. Maybe you are working on an out of town case. I would suggest you stay there. The beach is beautiful. The tiki bar is great and the staff is really super friendly.
Oscar Santamaria: And their prices as well is unbelievable because this would be like a 300 dollar a night hotel and you can get for 80 to 110 dollars. It is worth it if you are working on a case traveling from Tampa or Orlando anywhere.
Francois McKinnon: Just go over there and enjoy the pools and you are right on the ocean. They have the best tiki bar ever. I remember those frozen drinks that they were serving. They were beautiful and beautiful girls and bright and nice and fun. I thought it was wonderful.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah no they really were very kind to us. So again thanks to the Ocean Manor Beach Resort for hosting this event and sponsoring us. Also we had some other sponsors. Cool tan shirts. We gave a couple of those away. They sent us more. Unfortunately we got them the day after the event.
Francois McKinnon: So we have another one. We still have the package. So we are still going to push them out to our listeners that we have their address. That is the reason why to go to Miami PI Chronicles at gmail.com and say you are a listener and register. And we are going to get there soon enough. We really appreciate the listeners coming over and the private investigators. The quality of these private investigators were top of the line as well as the criminal lawyers that came down from Miami all the way to Palm Beach and Martin County. Even further north than West Palm Beach. So we really appreciated that.
Oscar Santamaria: We had fun. Even our dear friend Jonathan Freeman brought his guitar while we are up in the suite recording some of the bits for the show. And he started playing Stairway to Heaven.
Francois McKinnon: And also it is a great song. He was actually very good.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah you know my daughter got to meet him and really really liked him. He is a good guy. And he actually talked to her. He may have talked to her in joining or to become a lawyer.
Francois McKinnon: Because I know him for 20 some years. He is a very honest guy and he just cares about doing the right thing for people. Even the criminals that we represented and stuff. He is like a straight shooter and a real nice man. So I am glad you know what I am glad he spoke to her.
Oscar Santamaria: You know about me too. You know what if I ever turn to a life of crime and I get caught he is going to be my first call.
Francois McKinnon: Well we are not doing any of that. That is why we have always stayed on the right side of the law. Because you and I in jail would suck. We would go okay. Is there another training program I could join. Something.
Oscar Santamaria: I think we are too pretty to be in jail.
Francois McKinnon: I agree with you. And we are blind. And let us not forget a couple of other our sponsors Brickhouse Security. They supplied a GPS that we raffled off.
Oscar Santamaria: And other products which was very nice of them.
Francois McKinnon: That is the company that you and I have done business with all our life. And I actually reach out to the CEO of the company Mr. Morris. And he replied to me within two hours. And I thought it was crazy. And he came out and he said thank you for supporting our company. This is a CEO of a very big company. And he said thank you for supporting our company. And we would like to help you out. And we will give you giveaways. And they send GPS and other things. And I thought it was very nice. And it shows the value of a real CEO in the security industry that we live in. Because of the fact that they are so wealthy yet so honest and caring about their customers that they said hey I am sorry things did not. There was a communication problem that we have had with the marketing department. But he took care of it immediately. And I so appreciate that. It makes me feel like everybody in our industry should be with Brickhouse and follow them because they have the best investigative products and security products for anyone. And the customer service. You know the customer service there. We rent GPS. Okay. I call them. You set up an account or anybody calls them. You set up an account as a private investigator. And then they will send you a link five minutes later. And all you need to do is while your GPS is being shipped you can track it. It is pretty cool. It activates itself. And then you receive your device. And then if you have any questions you just call their number and they will walk you through it. And they have videos. They are more like old school. They will talk to you and tell you exactly how to do. And set up a geofencing in the Sparks Nano GPS. It tells you as soon as let us say that you put a perimeter on your GPS of 50 meters or 100 meters as soon as the car starts. First of all you can get an alert when the car starts. You get an alert and your phone just buzz. And then after that when a car starts driving you get a map that pops up on your screen of your phone. And it tells you exactly where the car is and this is the technology as private investigators we need. Not the plug in and then leave for a week. They used to be like old technology. But the new technology with the Spark Nano 7.0 that Brickhouse Security sells. They really support you. If you have like sometimes it will happen that the GPS will lose signal or something right. And if you call them they have a way of shutting it down remotely and then waking it up. And then the device comes back to life and then you know exactly where it is at. So it is very very cool. The thing about Brickhouse Security is their support is unreal. These people go out of their way to give you the best support.
Oscar Santamaria: Yes and really they are not just a GPS company. They are just all sorts of things. I mean I really like their covert cameras, their hidden cameras. They just listen. If you have never heard of them and you are a private investigator I would suggest you just go to the website brickhousesecurity.com and just check out what they have. They have emails that they send you every once in a while with some special deals. So yeah I suggest you sign up for those because those are incredible.
Francois McKinnon: They send you new product information as well as discount when you are a PI or a security expert.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah so again you know check them out if you get a chance and we would like to thank them and all of our sponsors. Again the Ocean Manor Beach Resort, Cool Tans and of course Brickhouse Security. All right listen we are going to be right back after this.
Oscar Santamaria: Hey friends so we are back. So a question that I keep getting asked is when somebody calls your company for a case how does that conversation usually go?
Francois McKinnon: You mean McKinnon Investigative Group yes.
Oscar Santamaria: Yes I am not talking a lawyer I am talking about somebody who you know is going through a divorce or through some sort of infidelity problem those types of cases.
Francois McKinnon: First of all I have learned many years ago I have been doing this as long as you have that people need to be listened to and most of the time you do understand that they do not only call you they call other people and a lot of people do not answer their phone. So when you answer the phone and speak to them and you literally listen to them and their entire story after 30 years you can gauge how much it is going to cost what kind of retainer you need and what their issues what is the best way you can fix their issues. You cannot predict the future but you could certainly with the experience that you have in life as a private investigator you can say oh okay we can do this we can do that and whatever you promise you have to deliver that is all. And I book jobs like this 90 percent of the time I get a phone call because I listen to them and I will tell you what else because sometimes it is a long story sometimes listen sometimes it is a crazy story and then you have to cut it off that does not make sense you know.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah no for sure yeah those cases are awfully tricky so most of the cases that I handle are for other lawyers some other private investigative agencies these people know the industry so when somebody calls me for example an infidelity case most people are not wealthy some are you are going to get those clients that you know money does not matter they really want to know but most people you can tell by talking to them you know that they are having a struggle between the uncertainty of not knowing whether their significant other is having an affair and taking food off of their family’s table. So you have to give them an education and you have to let them know the pros and the cons are the realities that yes you can pay me a thousand dollars I can go out there for 10 hours but guess what your spouse may not do anything that day or your boyfriend or whoever and you are going to have to understand that you may actually lose that money so I really want them to understand the pros and cons.
Francois McKinnon: So I totally agree with you and it happens all the time the thing is that you have to be responsible enough to see what their gain will be as well as yours and if it does not make sense sometimes you do pro bono stuff like I have all these years and you have as well they try to help them out the thing is that you can tell immediately if they have money and the thing is that if they have a case and when I tell them most of the time say listen whatever I tell you I will put it on paper and I can email it to you and then you can send it to your lawyer. As soon as they hear that they go oh this guy is not afraid of lawyers well all of our clients are lawyers and friends so it is one of the things. Remember the time I was in Dania Beach and I found the teacher that was a little bit on drugs I literally hit her with my car and I called my client and he said we called you 35 minutes ago and I took a picture of her and I said her skin is not looking so good right now but is that her because I hit her with my car and they said is she okay I said she sprung up like a rabbit but she is okay. And it is the same thing you have to tell it could happen like literally I left my dinner table from Hallandale went there and I hit her in my car and I felt bad but she was okay and then it turned out that I got her arrested by a friend of mine in street crimes and BSO and he got her cleaned and she came back to be a wonderful teacher. So to get back to your question it is very important to explain to them the cost the process of how it is going to work because they do not know some of them are when they call you they are very vulnerable and men or women and you have to be there for them and say listen I am going to do the best I can to win whatever it is that they are looking for you know.
Oscar Santamaria: Oftentimes these people just want to talk and be heard and they almost they just want almost somebody that they do not know and somebody anonymous just to share their story with so I can take a few minutes of my time to speak with them but my closing rate is I would say if 10 people call maybe I will close two of them and again that is because I do try to talk them out of it first which is probably not the best business model.
Francois McKinnon: You and I have been partners for over 30 years and I told you one at one point you bought a book to say how to fix your relationship so I could not believe you did that. I am saying this is the most screwed up relationship I have ever seen in my life but yet you brought a book to them. How did that work out? We kept doing it for over a year so yeah and they needed help. They needed help. No we did listen I was young and handsome back then but yes me too. Hey listen I understand where you are going with that and the bottom line is that I think that maybe that is a mistake you are making you are not taking the time to talk to them because I know when somebody is crazy then you cannot have the time but when somebody is in despair and upset and it is about their children and their husband and whatever or wife backward it is very upsetting and they need to hear and you need to listen and follow up. That is all I have to say.
Oscar Santamaria: Well especially the types of cases also. People come in and they want to do a child custody investigations case and they think it is one and done and it is not.
Francois McKinnon: No no sometimes it takes months. No I mean I would say the minimum is 40 hours for a child custody. I mean you want to establish a pattern that the you know when the other parent is with the child when the other parent is not with the child who they leave the child with and this is not a one and done deal. When it comes to child custody investigations you have got to be completely committed and there is just no way to sugarcoat that.
Oscar Santamaria: No I totally agree. Bro I totally agree with you because any judge or lawyer will tell you well that day he or she did that but it was only one time and you have heard that the bottom line is that you have to show different days. Use weekdays and a weekend. See what they do on weekends and then you will find out a lot of different information because sometime during the week they have to take the children to school and stuff and then they do not do anything. Unlike the girl we followed in Hollywood. Anyways that is a different that will be another show I just thought about that but you know the thing is that in our business we deal with very troubled people. People do not call us to wish us happy birthday ever. They call us because they have problems and they want us to help them and solve them and I think the best way to deal with this has been you let them and care and give them as much as you can. What do you think Oscar?
Oscar Santamaria: Nah listen I cannot disagree with you there. I guess that is another show. Anyways we will see you guys next week and thank you for listening we love you.
Francois McKinnon: Thank you for listening to the Miami PI Chronicles podcast. For all of your investigative needs in Florida please contact McKinnon Investigative Group at 954 513 7414 that is 954 513 7414 or visit us at www.miginvestigations.com. Thanks again for listening and please remember to share, follow and like.
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