Maybe it is some weird trick of fate, but every time I presented a b-solution to one of my clients together with the a-solution, the client took the b-solution. And the client was never at fault for choosing it, I was at fault for even presenting it to him.
Clients hire you for one reason only
Clients hire you, because they can’t do it themselves. They lack the knowledge, the creativity, the time, the resources, the taste or whatever, the client is lacking something, and he wants you to provide it to him.
And that is why you, as a designer, need to decide which designs work and which don’t.
When I presented a b-solution to my clients, I knew the a-solution would work better. But I wanted to create a safety net and present the client a choice – doesn’t that provide more value than only presenting one option?
No, giving your client more than one option to choose from is not providing more value, it is doing a disservice to your clients. In the past, I presented more than one option because I wasn’t confident enough in one idea. I wanted to balance out that lack of confidence with another option. But that put the choice into the hands of the client, a choice, he is not equipped for.
Clients hire us not to design what they have in mind. They hire us to design, what they could never come up with. The right behaviour of mine in the past would have been: Improve the first solution until I am confident enough to present it to my client as a single choice result.
Should you present more than one a-solution?
Today, I even go so far to get rid of other a-solutions if I find them. I only present the client a single result and explain to him why it is exactly what he needs.
To be able to do this, I must be confident enough in that single result, which forces me to work better and harder before the client presentation.
This approach creates better results in the first place. Another reason, why this single choice is the right one for the client. And if the client is in doubt about it, I can convince him about it being the perfect option just the way I convinced myself about it before going into the presentation.
If a client still declines that solution, it is his choice. Maybe he wants me to work on another idea, maybe he is better off with another designer. Whatever he decides on, should be only the designers concern after the a-solution was rejected. Until then, the a-solution is everything he should see.