Many thanks to the feisty Flickr user Anant N S (www.thelensor.tumblr.com) for this great picture.
I'm talking about the military tactic, not the video game. Its also known as counterattack or in debate, the counterpoint, and surprisingly can be an important technique to master when it comes to writing a formal business proposal.
To sum it up, a counter-strike is a response to an attack. There are many ways to respond to criticism in the sales world, the most popular of which seems to be the well-known "RUN-AND-HIDE!!!" technique. This entails the company becoming aware that their product or service has a weakness and doing everything they can to cover that up.
That technique is all well and good, but as we all know, eventually the person hiding gets caught. And by that time, the person who had to run all around looking for them is nothing short of furious. Enter counterstrike.
This technique enables the company to admit to a certain fault in the proposal; to come clean. But, never let your guard down. This is the moment for battle. Anticipate their offense: What arguments could my client think up to convince herself not to buy my product? Now, throw up the defense (counter): Break down the argument with facts. The final blow (strike): Provide another brilliant example of why your products or service rocks. And bam, the reader is blown away.
Here is an article you may like on how to write a business proposal.
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