CASE STUDY

A CRM for Private Investigative Firms

Capsule CRM helps Haagsch Recherchebureau get visibility and control of their business in this case study.

Private investigations rarely follow a neat, predictable path. Information can arrive through different channels, cases can change direction quickly, and investigators may need to coordinate clients, colleagues, external researchers, lawyers and other parties.

For Haagsch Recherchebureau, a private investigative firm based in The Hague, Netherlands, keeping all those moving parts organised has become an important part of running the business. The firm currently has eight investigators working across the Netherlands and handles investigations for businesses, private individuals, lawyers and property owners. Its work includes fraud investigations, corporate theft investigations, integrity investigations, pre-employment screening, online scam investigations and other forms of private investigation.

At the centre of its business administration is Capsule CRM.

From scattered information to one organised system

Haagsch Recherchebureau was founded by Jan-Paul Kreukniet, who says he has used Capsule since 2012. When he established Haagsch Recherchebureau in 2020, he chose Capsule from the outset to help manage the business.

For an investigative firm, one of the biggest challenges is that useful information does not necessarily arrive in one place.

A tip might come by email. A client might send a WhatsApp message. Another contact might communicate by LinkedIn or telephone. Information may also need to be shared with colleagues, suppliers or other professionals involved in an investigation.

Before Capsule, Jan-Paul says the business relied on a mixture of paper records, spreadsheets and word-processing documents. That made it harder to build a complete picture of what was happening across the business.

“I receive tips, client communications, and supply details from lots of different places. Before Capsule, I had no way to centralize this information in one place, in a secure system.”

For a business dealing with sensitive investigations, having information accessible and organised is particularly important.

Capsule gave Haagsch Recherchebureau a central place to manage contacts and communications, helping the team keep track of information connected to ongoing work rather than having it spread across several disconnected systems.

A clearer view of the sales pipeline

A CRM is not only useful once a client has become a customer. For Haagsch Recherchebureau, Capsule also provides visibility into potential work coming into the business.

The firm’s investigations can involve complex circumstances and different stages, making a clear view of the sales pipeline valuable. Capsule’s Sales Pipeline allows Jan-Paul to see opportunities and projected revenue, giving him a better basis for financial and growth planning.

“The Sales Pipeline features have helped me manage my whole pipeline. From a financial perspective, I can now see how much revenue is projected to come in and plan accordingly.”

That visibility means the business can look beyond individual enquiries and understand the bigger picture: what work is likely to come in, where opportunities are sitting and what that could mean for future planning.

For a small specialist business, that kind of visibility can make it easier to make decisions about growth and investment.

Managing investigations as projects

The investigative work itself is often more complicated than a simple sales process.

Once a case is accepted, there may be information to gather, tasks to allocate, communications to record and different people to coordinate. Capsule’s Projects feature has become useful for this side of the business.

According to Jan-Paul, Projects helps him and his team manage project-related work and client communication. Tasks can be assigned to colleagues or external researchers, while communications, actions and attachments can be kept together.

This gives the team a clearer view of the status of open cases and makes it easier to see what needs attention.

“I now know the status of all open cases at a glance. I can proactively chase leads down, assign tasks to colleagues and external researchers, and understand case status instantly.”

That distinction is worth highlighting. Capsule is not replacing the specialist investigative techniques used by the firm. Instead, it provides the business-management layer around the investigation, helping the team organise the people, communications, opportunities and tasks involved in its work.

Useful when the work takes you out of the office

Investigation work is not necessarily office-based. Fieldwork can take investigators away from their desks, making mobile access particularly useful.

Jan-Paul says that there are times when he needs to be out conducting fieldwork, and Capsule’s mobile capabilities allow him to take access to his business information with him.

That matters because the work does not stop simply because someone has left the office.

For a small investigative team, being able to stay connected to relevant business information while working remotely can help reduce delays and keep communication moving.

Flexibility matters

Haagsch Recherchebureau also values Capsule for its flexibility and ability to work alongside other applications.

The business uses Zapier to connect Capsule with other tools, allowing information and workflows to move between different systems.

“What I love about Capsule is how flexible it is. The majority of apps I use are supported, helping me streamline lots of business operations and activities in a single system.”

For a specialist business, this flexibility can be more useful than choosing an enormous CRM packed with features that may never be used.

Haagsch Recherchebureau selected Capsule because it offered the combination of flexibility, ease of use, support and a competitive price point that the business was looking for. The company says it was able to get up and running quickly, with features such as Sales Pipelines and Projects delivering benefits within weeks.

Why a CRM makes sense for a private investigation firm

The Haagsch Recherchebureau story illustrates an interesting CRM use case.

A CRM may traditionally be associated with sales teams, but the underlying need is much broader: organising relationships, information and activities so that important details do not get lost.

For a private investigation business, that can mean keeping track of prospective clients, existing clients, colleagues, external researchers and other professional contacts while maintaining visibility of the work moving through the business.

In Haagsch Recherchebureau’s case, Capsule provides a central system for the business information surrounding its investigations.

The company’s current approach also reflects how much the business has developed since it was founded. Today, Haagsch Recherchebureau describes itself as a nationwide team of eight investigators and offers services to employers, private individuals, lawyers and property owners. Its current website also highlights digital investigation, tactical investigation, independent evidence gathering and specialist investigative capabilities.

The case for keeping business information together

For Jan-Paul and his team, the value of Capsule appears to come down to something relatively simple: knowing what is happening without having to search through multiple systems to find it.

The CRM gives the business:

• A central place for contacts and communications
• A clearer view of the sales pipeline
• Visibility of projected revenue
• Project management for case-related activities
• Task assignment for colleagues and external researchers
• Mobile access while working away from the office
• Integration possibilities through Zapier
• Less reliance on paper records, spreadsheets and separate documents

Most importantly, these features support the way the company actually works rather than forcing the business into an unnecessarily complicated process.

For a specialist firm handling sensitive, unpredictable and often complex investigations, that simplicity can be valuable.

Case closed: Capsule becomes part of the investigation firm’s toolkit

Haagsch Recherchebureau demonstrates that a CRM does not have to be designed specifically for private investigators to be useful to one.

The firm needs specialist investigative skills and technology to conduct its work, but it also needs an efficient way to manage the business surrounding those investigations.

Capsule has become that central business-management system for Jan-Paul Kreukniet and his team, bringing communications, contacts, sales opportunities, projects and tasks together.

The result is a clearer view of the business, less time spent hunting for information and a more organised way to manage the work that keeps cases moving.

For small specialist firms, that may be one of the most compelling reasons to consider a CRM: not because you need more software, but because you need fewer places for important information to hide.

To take control of your business as Jan-Paul did, start your 14-day free trial today.