How we score businesses
Every Verdict SG ranking is produced by mystery-shopping each firm with an identical scripted enquiry and scoring it against the same public 100-point rubric.
What is mystery shopping?
Mystery shopping means we experience a business the way a real customer would, without identifying ourselves as reviewers. For professional services we don't visit a shopfront — instead we send an identical scripted enquiry to every firm in a category (the same business scenario, the same questions, including a couple of deliberately naive "planted" questions to test whether a firm proactively raises material points such as the resident-director requirement), request a quote, and go through the first consultation. Every firm is contacted from the same address and given the same information, so differences in the replies reflect differences in the firms, not in what was asked.
The 100-point rubric
Each firm is scored out of 100, across five criteria. Unlike a simple equal-weighted rubric, Communication & Responsiveness is weighted 40%, with the remaining four criteria weighted 15% each. The same rubric and weighting applies to every firm in a category.
| Criterion | Weight | What we assess |
|---|---|---|
| Communication & Responsiveness | 40% | How quickly and reliably the firm replied, plus reachability: was a local Singapore phone number given, is the rep confirmed to be Singapore-based, and is an in-person meeting offered or available. A firm that is fast but unreachable by phone or only reachable via an overseas number scores lower here. |
| Transparency | 15% | Whether pricing, scope and any add-on or government fees were disclosed clearly and upfront, including whether headline figures could mislead a reader skimming the quote. |
| Expertise | 15% | Accuracy and depth of the advice given in the first consultation, including whether the firm proactively raised material points (e.g. the resident-director requirement) without being asked. |
| Value | 15% | The quoted price relative to the scope and quality offered — not simply the cheapest. A firm that provides no price at all scores 0 here, since value cannot be assessed without one. |
| Service | 15% | Professionalism, clarity of communication, whether a call or meeting was offered, and overall ease of dealing with the firm. |
Weighted TOTAL = (Communication & Responsiveness score × 2) + (Transparency + Expertise + Value + Service scores) × 0.75, giving a maximum of 100.
Why Communication & Responsiveness is weighted 40%
In this category, a firm you can't get hold of — or can only reach through an overseas WhatsApp number with no confirmed Singapore presence — is close to worthless to a founder who needs to sign documents, answer a follow-up question, or sort out a problem quickly. We weight this criterion highest because reachability is the single biggest predictor of a good experience after the sale, and because it's the criterion where "impressive on paper" firms most often fall down: a fast, well-written reply is not the same as a firm you can actually call. Concretely, this criterion factors in three things we verify from the reply itself: whether a Singapore phone number was given, whether the rep is confirmed to be based in Singapore, and whether an in-person meeting is offered or available.
The process, step by step
- Shop anonymously, identically. Every firm in a category receives the same scripted enquiry from the same anonymous prospective-customer identity, sent within the same window, without disclosing that it's being assessed.
- Score on the rubric. Score the experience across the five weighted criteria above, using only what's verifiable from the reply and evidence on file.
- Offer right of reply. Send the firm its scores and findings before publication and invite a response.
- Publish with evidence. Publish the score, the evidence behind it, and the assessment date — and update the page as new firms reply, since this is a live ranking rather than a one-off report.
Our evidence standard
Every score is backed by evidence we keep on file: the emails exchanged, the written quote, and dated notes from any call or meeting. When we state a fact on a review page — a price, a response time, a service included, a phone number, an office address — it comes from that evidence, not from memory or assumption. Where our own notes flag genuine ambiguity (for example, an approximate elapsed reply time from a relative timestamp), we say so rather than presenting an estimate as a precise fact.
The phone-number gate: Sleek and Paul Hype Page & Co
This is disclosed honestly on the homepage, the ranking page, and here, and it will remain disclosed even if we later find an alternative route to shop these firms.
How we stay independent
No firm can pay to appear, to rank higher, or to remove a criticism. Where a review page contains an affiliate or referral link, it is labelled, and the same commercial terms are offered to every firm in the category, so money never affects position. Rankings reflect the rubric score alone.
Right of reply
Before a ranking is published, we email each firm its scores and key findings and invite a response. If a firm points out a factual error, we correct it. If it disagrees with our judgement, we publish its response alongside ours. Firms can also request a re-assessment if their service has materially changed.
How often we re-shop, and why this ranking is "live"
This category is still being shopped: as of 18 August 2026, 13 firms have been contacted, 4 have been fully scored, several are still awaiting a first reply, 1 (SBS Consulting) replied but has not yet provided a price to score Value against, and 2 were excluded for the phone-gate reason above. We publish partial results as they come in, clearly labelled by status, rather than waiting for every firm to reply before showing anything. Each firm's row is updated the moment it is fully scored. Once the category is complete, it will be re-shopped at least once a year, with the last-assessed date shown on every page.
Frequently asked questions
What is mystery shopping?
Experiencing a business the way a real customer would, without identifying as a reviewer. For professional services, we send an identical scripted enquiry to every firm, request a quote, and go through the first consultation.
Why is Communication & Responsiveness weighted 40%?
Because a firm you cannot reach is worthless regardless of price. This criterion also weighs whether a local SG phone number was given, whether the rep is confirmed Singapore-based, and whether an in-person meeting is available.
Why are Sleek and Paul Hype Page & Co excluded?
Both require a Singapore phone number before an enquiry can be submitted, with no email-only option, which breaks our identical, email-based mystery-shop process. This is disclosed as a methodology finding, not hidden.