The offices will be completed in September and are looking especially impressive. They will provide the best modern office space available anywhere in western Romania.

Well, if Hislop thinks perks are trivial, he’s been too rich, for too long. When, aged 24 and accustomed more to travelling in old bangers or hitch hiking, I landed a job which involved frequent first class rail travel and flights sitting at the front of the plane, it made me feel like a king. More importantly, from my employer’s point of view, it made me feel valued. This was something they didn’t have to do for me, but did nonetheless. And boy, did I return the favour, working much longer and harder than I had to. A little generosity on my employer’s part reaped much greater dividends.

Perks make particularly strong economic sense when an organisation can offer a benefit that costs it very little, but which the recipients value a great deal. BA is the obvious, as well as the most topical, example here. Allowing staff to use otherwise empty seats costs BA nothing.  But, especially for staff who have taken a significant pay cut to do an increasingly low status job, free flights to anywhere must make all the difference in the world.

In many countries, gifts between company representatives are also a regular ‘perk of the job’. In the UK, we are quick to dismiss such gifts as corruption, but the true position is much subtler and more constructive. Indeed, in my experience, the risk of corruption is part of the game of checking out who you are dealing with and whether or not he or she can be trusted. No gift at all breaks no ice. A small token shows politeness, goodwill and a degree of sophistication.  Too substantial a gift raises alarm bells and shouts ‘this person wants to buy me in the hope I’ll sell out my company’.

Such subtleties are the very stuff of the provision of professional services, because everything hinges upon relationships and the quality of your staff. Thus an awareness that short-term perks can motivate staff more than money, and that the most humourless of clients will, all else being equal, choose the firm with which it has the better relationship, can make the difference between keeping and losing an account.

So provide employees with more perks, not less, because it’s cheaper. And if it’s not on to take clients out for a boozy lunch, consider taking them out for boozy dinner (or something more original) instead. Most will be genuinely appreciative – and you’ll discover much more about what makes them and their organisation tick, than at any formal meeting.

In the year following a Definition-led review, central London estate agents Beaney Pearce have notched up their best ever year for lettings revenue and volumes. They have also enjoyed a “striking increase” in converting market appraisals (valuations) into instructions to sell.

A host of changes were implemented following the review, which was carried out in early 2009. One of the more noticeable outcomes is their new website - see www.beaneypearce.co.uk . Other measures focused principally on customer service and effective communication of  Beaney Pearce’s many distinctive strengths.

Professional firms are not above following suit

Ryanair’s approach works because, even after the unavoidable extras and last minute premiums, they’re still cheap, convenient and, in my experience so far, bang on time. On my chosen route at least, there was no realistic alternative. So you play their game, but have absolutely no customer loyalty whatsoever. Given that the clients of most professional firms have lots of alternative providers, and that unlike an airline, giving the impression that you are not First Class eats up your brand capital faster than the speed of sound, you would have thought that no firm offering, say, legal or accountancy services would dream of adopting such a model. But some surprisingly big names (on which more in a moment) do, and their success throws up challenges for the rest.

The basic cunning idea is as old as the hills: offer seductively low rates to secure a major contract, then:

- charge as many extras as you can;
- have all work done by the lowliest, lowest paid people you can hire;
- schmooze the senior managers and…
- ramp up service levels in the run-up to the three year review.

With luck, you might then even persuade the client to stick with the devil they know. If not, you’ve had three fantastically profitable years and can probably secure a replacement contract, with a different client, on the same basis. There are always managers around tasked with driving costs down, and the credit for securing ‘great deals’ all comes up-front. Come review time, they’ll have had their promotion.

Competing with this approach is all the harder because it tends to be the larger name firms that do it. This happens either because a few divisions of otherwise strong firms will always trade on a reputation maintained by their colleagues, or because the whole organisation, like a famous but fading hotel, is resting on its laurels. Smaller name firms don’t have this brand capital, so cheap offers don’t smack of high efficiency, just desperation.

What can be done in the face of such cynical rivals? From personal experience and that of some clients, there are some defences which, whether pitching to gain or keep an account, I have seen succeed:

1) Influence the tender criteria
Often an opportunity when it’s an account you have and, if you’re in early enough, one that might be open to you even if it’s not. Your objective should be, in the most positive way possible, to educate the client in how to ask for information, such as actual average costs on a comparable account, which will make it difficult for the bidders to pull a fast one.

2) Be as open as you dare
I’ve seen firms lose major accounts because they are affronted at how much detail a client wants about their financial position and ways of working. But those I’ve seen who have also taken exception, then given up the information anyway, have invariably later wondered what they were making such a fuss about.

3) Accept the unacceptable – with an early review
A client coming out of a poor contract will, like a newly-spurned lover, be very nervous about getting taken advantage of again. This can prompt unreasonable demands. Don’t worry – accept them. But do so on the basis that, six months in, you can review pretty much everything. By that time, you’ll have proved your worth, the unreasonable demands will be quietly pushed to one side, you’ll have the business for another two or three years and, assuming you’re terrific, a lot longer than that.

Of course, if you’re not terrific, perhaps you should consider the “Only £X per hour!” line with the cost of the proverbial coffee and sandwiches hidden in the small print. Just don’t count on any repeat business.

I am delighted to report that the new website of Definition legal clients Carritt & Co is now live at www.carritt.co.uk . Unusual in being an HTML site with rotating panels, it is a good example of how a boutique firm can avoid the ‘template trap’ and thus convey its distinctiveness.

The new site was project managed and written by Definition and created by Oomph Design.

However, despite a trial lasting six weeks, involving 52 witnesses and costs running into millions of pounds, the Hon. Mr Justice Nicol found in favour of the school on all eight points on which liability had been argued.

Definition advised Everatt & Company on PR issues arising out of the case.

Definition’s role in HFN’s Natural Play campaign includes input into strategy and the creation of a new CRM, overseeing all design and content and project management of a dedicated website and direct marketing.

Process Evolution’s clients are predominantly in (but by no means limited to) the emergency services sector, including over 60% of UK police forces. Its most high profile work is in helping clients that use shift-working staff handling varying 24 hour demand, to secure often dramatic efficiency gains. Please see Process Evolution for more information.