Mee-ni-nai-mi-mo I choose you (ID selection) Part 2

Earlier in my blog, I have listed 11 out of 13 ID firms. Out of the eleven, only Alan from Edgeline was short listed in the final round.

Alan was shortlisted as he was extremely hardworking. He was also very innovative in his design. I have to admit my visits to many IDs were fruitful;so fruitful till some of the design ideas were adopted/ incorporated into my design. Alan was the one whom tweaked the ideas to achieve practicality.  However, Alan is about to face two very serious competitors whom came late into the scene.  These two competitors, The Ruler Group and GA7 were brought into the scene as I was slightly uncomfortable on the thought that I only had one shortlisted after 11 quotations.  Below is the write-up of the last two ID firms which were immediately shortlisted.


The Ruler Group
Frankly speaking, I don't really have a good impressions of ID firms setting up booths at home exhibitions at Singapore Expo. Somehow I feel there must be one way or another in which the ID firms passes the rental charges to their clients. So one day in July I chanced upon an exhibition.

I was reluctant to enter as I find the sales personnel are very pushy. But I was at my wits' end. Alan was the only one in the short list by then and I was not very comfortable in awarding job to him based on that conditions. I need one more good quotation to set my mind at ease.

If you haven't been to such exhibitions, try going on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Some firms have a bevy of babes and hunks lined right outside their booths whom coincidentally are also IDs. My gf then remarked she felt as though it was like those sleazy ktv lounges u seen in Hong Kong movies where the hostesses lined up to greet you.

Anyway we visited Prozfile as we saw their portfolios which included several of similar themed projects. My writeup can be seen in my earlier post.

I then wanted another one more quotation. I then decided it was The Ruler Group. It was luck perhaps. Time then was late. I was hungry and I only had time for one more ID. There was another ID firm which was next to the Ruler Group I wanted to go, but gf wanted the Ruler Group as she felt the IDs in the other firm looks too young and inexperienced. In the end we indeed mee-no-nai-mi-mo and selected The Ruler Group.

We were immediately served by Kevin in a crisp white shirt and a necktie. We went through my design brief. Finally, we settled the design and Kevin then started a sales pitch. He wanted me to pay upfront for his 3D drawings. I flatly refused to do so and scolded Kevin for such a request. After much berating from me, Kevin agreed there will be no 3D drawings till I signed the contract. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I asked gf whether she thought Kevin will come back with his quotation. We both agreed in unison he won't.

A week later, Kevin called to my surprise and said his quote was ready.  I was slightly hesitant to go over to his firm after work.  But I still trudged there eventually.   His shop is located very near to Beau Monde which I went a few weeks back.  And boy was I impressed.  Kevin was ready with his floorplan, quotation and even a material board of proposed materials to be used.  I and my gf spent about 1 hr going through his plan and proposal and this hardworking chap had done his homework well by researching into the theme.  And his quotation..... ranks one of the lowest till date.

I met him two more times: one to go through the design again, and another one more time to visit the house for site inspection .  In fact, due to urgency to award the job (7th Lunar Month was nearing and I wanted to start some works before that),  the meeting was back-to-back with GA7 and the house visit was together with GA7 (as I did not want to impose too much on the seller).

Overall, my impression of Ruler Group has been very good.  Initially I wondered Kevin was able to understand my requirement well, but my fears were indeed unfounded.  Though Ruler Group had only recently entered the HDB market (they were mainly concentrating their services for private landed developments), their experience was there.



GA7 Associates Planning and Design
GA7 Group was recommended by my another good friend, Andrew, whom is in Real Estate.  I met up with Iris, a very nice lady.  From my meeting,  I understood that Iris is a project manager.  She claimed this was a better arrangement which is indeed rather unique in the ID field.  This was because, to GA7, IDs may give wild ideas which may be impossible to carry out.  Anyway, I spent more than 3 hours at a local fast food restaurant going through the ideas.   Iris was brilliant in ideas.  In fact, her ideas are filled with practicality and cost savings.    She has such a warm personality then we eventually even chat like old friends.

Eventually I was asked to visit a unit which she just completed.  But I declined due to time constraints.  Like Kevin, I met her two more times.

My impression of GA7 Group was similar to The Ruler Group.  GA7 came across as a ID firm with its roots in construction of small private landed developments and is highly experienced in doing up small homes too.  Though I was supposed to meet her ID together with Iris, I didn't due to time constraints.  But I think it was a brilliant practice.  There were so many instances I read where the ID was fully involved in the design, but when it comes to actual works, a coordinator whom you never met would usually run the actual works.  There was an additional unnecessary layer of communication which can be broken down, just like what GA7 Group has recognised.

Iris was also a woman of her words.   If she promised to deliver her promise on that day, she stuck to it even though it was eventually 1-2am when she sent.  That was another plus point to me.  Overall, her quotation was extremely close to Kevin's.



FINALLY......So whom did I picked? Was it Alan from Edgeline whom was very creative and diligent? Or Kevin whom was very enthusiastic and also diligent even though I had lectured him sternly at our first meeting?  Or superwoman Iris whom was extremely chatty and experienced?

It was.......

TADA!!!

The Ruler Group......

Yesh, I picked Kevin.  Why?  I guessed it boiled down to the follow factors (from the order of lowest priorty):-

1. Workmanship.  I felt it was okay though I only saw his carpentry works.  I did not really view the rest due to time constraints, so this factor ranks the lowest
2. His cost was the lowest (or 2nd lowest? I forgot).  I had promised myself that if the difference is minimal among the shortlisted (Kevin's and Iris's quotations were lower by alot as compared to Alan's),  this factor would rank low.
3. Kevin's design ideas were good too, evident from the design of my initial TV console (which was eventually scrapped due to cost).
4. Kevin has a car!!! Yes this is very materialistic of me, but hey with a car, it meant two things to me (a non-car owner).   One, he could easily bring me around sourcing for materials. Two, there is a likelihood that he will visit the site regularly which was definitely comforting to me.
5. Kevin's attitude is No.1!  He listens well and follows up accordingly.  He respects my choices and will only intervene if it was not very smart.  And best of all, he didn't show any attitude despite me lecturing him in my first meeting.  On the hindsight, I realised he may be right as 3D drawings are useful to explain to clients whom may have difficulty in visualising the design.  But I  felt perhaps ID firms should offer perspective hand-drawn drawings which would also do as well.
6. Kevin was very enthusiastic in his works.  He was fast to follow-up and respond (though I hoped it will be same after I awarded the job to him).  He promised he wanted this job badly because the design intent was extremely unique to him and would broaden his portfolio.

Please note Alan and Iris were not picked not because they failed the criteria above but because they came up lower than Kevin in overall score (Yes, there is a selection weightage in the criteria which I will not reveal out of respect for all IDs).  As such, do consider them if you need a good ID, or even the other 10 ID firms in my earlier post. 

Upon being informed of my intention to award the job to him (at end July 2012), Kevin invited me to come down to Singapore Expo to sign the Contract and make a deposit.  Why Expo instead of his office at Joo Chiat, I queried.  To which he answered, "Oh The Ruler Group is having an exhibition there now. If you go there to sign up, you can enter lucky draw to win $8,888!"

Whoa, I haven't sign and he is already thinking for me.  Bonus POINT!

So I went down to sign.  And I DIDN'T win anything despite entering the contest with 200 plus tickets.  EPIC fail, I thought, till Kevin informed me a client later entered with 1000 plus tickets.  I almost fainted.