Do you present concepts that typically involve design and copy? This could be websites, ads, promotional material, etc.

If so, have you discovered the power of three?

What is the Power of Three?

It’s simple. The power of three is presenting three ideas for any concept.

In my agencies, every time we presented new concepts, we suggested that we’d show three initial concepts for the client’s consideration.

I’ve read books that say you should only present one option with plenty of rationale to support it.

Other articles suggest you should present “many” (undefined) to show the client your range of thinking.

None of these worked consistently for us. What worked was presenting three concepts.

Presenting Just One Was Usually a Bad Idea

If your estimate includes just one proposed creative solution, it seems like it’s “take it or leave it.” Some clients will feel like they’re being bullied into only one idea.

Other times, in a misguided effort to reduce an estimate, a client will say, “We don’t need three options, just show us one idea, and we’ll be fine with it.”

Reluctantly, you go along with it. After presenting one idea to them, even if they loved it, they will ask, “Did you have any other ideas?” Well, of course you did, but they only asked to see one.

The worst-case scenario would be if the client rejects your one idea. Now you’re defending your concept while the client is giving you all the reasons they don’t like it. It becomes antagonistic.

Unhappily, you’re starting over again.

Presenting just one idea and having it rejected also creates a problem with billing. In their mind, the client wanted to see just one, but one that they approved. They won’t care if it takes you two, three, or more attempts to get there. How do you charge for that?

Presenting Just Two Options Can be Awkward

You might think that two options are better than one. Perhaps, but often, not much better.

With two options, you’re forcing a choice that many people don’t want to make. It feels confrontational. Choose this or that: one or the other. Take A or B.

Two never feels like it’s enough.

Use the Power of Three

For us, three has always been a magic number.

Three immediately feels like you’ve given them lots to consider. Clients often bounce around as they look at the options. Three opens up a broader conversation and more comparisons between the elements shown.

Clients get more involved and see that you’ve thoroughly explored the possibilities for the project. It feels like you’ve worked through your ideas to come up with these three.

We’ve Known Three Since Childhood

If you think about it, you’ve been familiar with three since childhood.

You probably sang Three Blind Mice, read the stories about The Three Little Pigs, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Christians learn about The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.

And street hustlers take your money with Three-Card Monte.

People Count One, Two, Three, and a Bunch More

Three is also enough without being overwhelming. Presenting any more than three can become confusing.

Say you presented five choices. By the time they get to option five, clients forget what they liked about option one. You run the risk of “too many choices”, so they choose nothing at all.

Just as importantly, it’s tough to come up with five solutions that perfectly answer the brief.

No Straw Dogs—You Should Love All Three

When you commit to creating three options, you must be prepared for the client to choose any one of them. That means that each of them should be well thought out and an excellent choice for the assignment.

If you’re going into the meeting with one option you like and others that you know aren’t strong, inevitably one of two things will happen. Either the client chooses one of the weaker ones, or even worse, they will immediately recognize that there’s only one strong contender, and you’ll have to defend why you’re showing two half-baked ideas.

You have to be able to deliver what you promised: three compelling ideas every time. Make sure you have a solid rationale for every concept you present.

Another Reason for Three—You Can Charge More

Don’t underestimate the time and effort to come up with three strong concepts. Make sure you account for this in your estimate.

At my agencies, we had the luxury of having a design studio with many designers, so we would usually give the project to a few of them for preliminary ideas.

If you’re working on your own, coming up with three strong ideas can be a challenge. Sources of inspiration? Archetypes, stock shot libraries, previous campaign ideas.

Having a creative partner, e.g., copywriter and graphic designer, allows you to brainstorm and come up with ideas faster. That’s how we worked at my agencies. But you can do this without forming a company. Create a virtual agency, don’t go it alone.

Tight Definitions for Your Estimate

When you’re creating concepts for your presentation, be sure to define what each concept will include.

For example, if we were doing a website, we would mock-up three design options for a home page and two or three inside pages.

For your estimate, be sure to get approval ahead of time on what you propose to show. Some clients want to see more pages per option, so your estimate should reflect the work required.

Define Your Rounds of Revisions in Your Estimate

If all goes well, the client will choose one of the three options to be refined. Typically, you’ll find the client will pick one but ask you to integrate features from the others. So, you’ll want to include up to two rounds of revisions in your estimate to come up with the final version.

An Exception to the Rule of Three

We broke the rule of three when we were designing logos. Because there is such a wide range of what a logo could be, we would usually show up to five options, often with variations on some of the options.

With logos, even slight variations can make a big difference (the arc of a corner, the thickness of a line, a font variation) so we would show them too.

Typically, for logo designs, we might have dozens of options and variations, and we would pare it down for presentation. But it often came in at more than three.

However, this was the exception. For everything else, we stuck to the power of three.

Learn more about estimating and presenting your work in my book, How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for freelance graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.

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Use the Power of Three for Successful Concept Presentations