In this episode of Process Server Daily, Mighty Mike Reid sits down with Tim Santoni, CEO of Santoni Investigations and a California-based risk mitigation expert. Tim shares how he came up in a family-run agency—learning process serving, surveillance, skip tracing, and undercover field work—before expanding into background screening and consulting to help businesses prevent problems before they turn into claims or litigation.
Tim opens up about an early surveillance mistake that taught him how easy it is to lose a subject (especially when you're working alongside a highly skilled operator) and why those "embarrassing" moments become the fastest teachers. From there, he breaks down the bigger lesson: how you gather information matters, because legality, ethics, and procedure affect whether evidence is usable in court or negotiations.
The conversation dives into the higher-stakes side of investigations, including coordinating civil seizure operations tied to counterfeit/infringing goods. Tim explains the moving parts—verifying sources through undercover buys, supporting court filings with declarations, coordinating with law enforcement, running logistics during execution (inventory, documentation, chain of custody), and ensuring seized products don't re-enter the marketplace.
On the business side, Tim talks about why content and video marketing matter in an industry built on trust, how networking drives opportunity, and why understanding your numbers (especially cash flow and accounts receivable) can make or break a service business. He also shares actionable skip trace techniques, including the "package" pretext and an accident-investigation style pretext that gets people to correct addresses without feeling threatened.
The episode closes with practical growth advice: build relationships, measure what matters, connect with people ahead of you, and treat "competitors" like potential allies—because partnerships are often where the next big opportunity comes from.
00:00 Intro + guest setup (Tim Santoni, Santoni Investigations)
01:10 Tim's background: family-run agency, civil investigations, and building expertise in legal/ethical compliance
03:05 Why "how you do the work" affects admissibility, leverage, and case outcomes
05:00 Marketing + content ROI: brand trust, client acquisition, and hiring benefits from visibility
07:30 Worst/most embarrassing moment: losing a surveillance subject (the "where are you?" story)
10:10 Biggest "win" cases: coordinated raids/seizures + taking counterfeit/dangerous goods off the market
12:40 Behind the scenes of a seizure: undercover buys → affidavits → coordinating law enforcement → inventory/chain of custody
16:20 How Tim built the skill stack: learning from mentors, profiling, and mastering public records + field tactics
19:10 Working with major brands (anti-counterfeit / brand protection) + adapting fast to different industries
22:10 What Tim is most focused on now: workers' comp fraud strategy + competitive intelligence for businesses
25:20 Favorite skip trace tactic: pretext calls (and why "package" still works)
27:10 Pretext #2: "accident investigator" approach to get address confirmation without resistance
29:10 Case management systems + why tracking and process matter at scale
31:00 Best business advice: measure the right KPIs + learn to read your numbers
33:05 Warning for service businesses: accounts receivable/cash flow can kill you if unmanaged
35:00 If starting over with $100: network fast, create content, and make direct outreach calls
37:10 Parting advice: build relationships, collaborate, and keep learning from people ahead of you
