Fugitive Recovery Agent Question

OK, I have been trying to get work for the past few months or so with no luck and was wondering what I am doing wrong. I am a criminal justice grad, have been in the Marines, graduated from the American Institute of Bail, have my Concealed Pistol Permit, and know the laws pertaining bail and bail enforcement in MI. But I still come up with nothing. What can I do to get a chance to prove my self as a good agent? Should I work for free on a couple of cases? Is there anything I can say to convince a bondsman to give me a chance? How did you get into the door? Any suggestions would help.

Thank you in advance.

Johnny

Johnny,
The hardest part of this business, is getting into the business. You can never have too much knowledge, so keep reading posts on here. When we started, we put together resumes, talked to alot of bonding companies, and wrote alot of introduction letters. Try to find a mentor in your area that may be willing to help you. It's not easy! Keep plugging away at it and always look and act professionally. There's no "carved in stone" way to go about it.

refer to this post for a bit of info

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10579

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Maybe you should try to find out if there is actual work out there.

I get the same question or comments all the time, that I should be making a lot of money with this bad economy. People think that the country is full of criminals robbing and stealing, so the jails are full of people just waiting to be bailed out.

Not so!

Another problem, if the family doesn't have the bail premium to pay me, they don't get out of jail. So, we have written considerably less bail this year. And written even tighter than usual bail to eliminate as many skips as possible.

Less bail written, less skips to chase.

Also, there are hundreds or thousands of other guys just like you trying to break into the business competing with the thousands already doing the work.

Pretty much what the others said. I write tight bail, and mostly chase my own skips, so don't have a lot of work to farm out. The economy is down all over, so we are all writing fewer and tighter bonds, and doing most of our own work. I am personally capable of working my own skips, so farm out very little work. That is the case for many, so work is scarce for independants. That is why we all suggest that people use BE as a secondary income. It isn't fear of competition or anything other than experience talking.

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

I think that Tony (Weasel) and Kathy (SISTA) said it best . . . with the economy the way that it is right now . . .

_________________


Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

I started by talking to people on here and was put in contact with the man I work for now. At the time I was still in college, military experience, permits, licenses, etc. etc. Keep plowing away on here and network, network, network! And be persistent, don't give up!

_________________
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything. - From the Hagakure

I'm new here and new to bail enforcement, but I got my company off the ground with only a few short marketing visits with some bail bond companies. How? I presented myself like a professional, created some very professional looking flyers and letters and I understand what the stigma of BEAs are and attempted to refute that entirely.

My approach was to create a flyer that was informative about some things that plague bail bond companies; FTAs and Bond Forfeitures. On my flyer I put some tips that I felt bail bonding companies failed at miserably and led to numerous forfeiture cases. The flyer was NOT about my company per se, but about helping these companies limit the need for my services. Tricky, but VERY effective. A detriment to my business? Absolutely not! Everyone I've spoke with has stated how much they appreciated what we had to say and that alone got them reading my marketing letter. Our name and services was certainly on the flyer, but the emphasis was helping the bail bond company by being informative.

My marketing letter consisted of 3 pages. Each page contained a news story. The first page contained a news story about a BEA that arrested the wrong person and was charged with kidnapping. I used that story to highlight how we do things differently and that our training prevents these types of erroneous actions. The next story was about a bondsman who kicked in the wrong door. We went into the benefit of hiring professional investigators and actually conducting an investigation prior to an arrest. Also used that story to highlight why it pays to hire a professional investigator. Our final news story was in regards to a suspect accidentally being shot during the arrest by a BEA while in a struggle. Our intent was to point out that safety, especially the safety of the public, was absolutely paramount. We highlighted the fact that lethal force is NOT always the best approach and that non-lethal tactics are in MOST cases the best approach.

Every single person I have sat down with gave us cases that day. I also point out that my company represents the NEW school of BEA and we really lean on the term investigator because that's what we do. The actual arrest is such a small part of the job. Without an investigation you really have nothing but luck to rely on.

You'd be surprised how something as small as having a professional looking business card can make. I've heard some real horror stories from a lot of my new clients and almost all of them say the same thing "We're looking for a company that is professional, courteous and reliable". We do what we say and say what we do. Some people will find that statement elementary, but you'd be surprised at how many people talk the talk and never walk the walk. If I say I'm going to be somewhere at a specified time, I'm there. If something changes, I make sure and give the bondsman plenty of notice of the change. I follow through!

Be consistent, be professional in your appearance and demeanor, and always remember that you're providing a service to help. I wish you the very best in your endeavors.

Carlito, that was a very well written post. Please take the time to introduce yourself on the "Introductions" forum and continue to comment here as well.

Based on your post I would think you should do well in recovery. I would also recommend you contact "Kathy" on FRN as she is the Colorado 'go to' person in that AO.

Good luck, take the time to do the introduction and welcome to FRN.

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Carlito well said, you remind me of my boss, very professional and painfully thorough. Kudos and I'll be checking out your site later on!

_________________
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything. - From the Hagakure