By West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development, Print Audit & Owner, FocusMPS

There has been a great deal of buzz in the industry around “Seat Based Billing (SBB)” for Managed Print.  I personally have spoken on the topic at numerous trade shows and events in the last 3 years.  I have also had the chance to meet with some of the leading thought leaders in the space to discuss the topic.  Personally I think that in a world of declining pages (per user) SBB makes perfect sense.  Regardless of how I feel, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of voices that need to chime in on the topic of SBB.  The one thing that has always been missing is a recorded journal of  the voice of the dealers.  I don’t mean the opinions around SBB shared over cocktails and between friends.  I mean something that more formally chronicles dealer opinions, both for and against SBB.

One of the opportunities I took when at Photizo’s Navigator event was to start documenting dealer excitement and concern over SBB.  I made my session at Navigator a bit of a working round-table in which I asked dealers to list the reasons SBB could work as well as their thoughts on why it wouldn’t.  With that many business owners in one place, it seemed the perfect forum to get past mere conversation and into something more concrete and measurable.  Only once we’ve recorded and measured a wide array of opinions and facts can we begin the real work of seeing if a thing has wings.

Print Audit’s Trevor Hofer has created 2 charts that summarize the results from dealer input at Navigator.  One chart shows the reasons “For” SBB and the other chart shows reasons “Against” SBB.  For example, 32% of Navigator attendees think that the biggest danger with SBB is the risk of customers abusing a flat rate model by overprinting.  Conversely, 34% of attendees felt that SBB would be a great way to simplify the job of billing for print.  There are another 17 questions that they gave answers to and some of the results are surprising.  You can download the charts in the link below.

What happens next?  The debate over Seat Based Billing as a viable model for Managed Print is far from over.  These charts have been designed to spark further conversation and discussion around both the positive and the negative sides of the model.  I encourage you to read through the charts and to be critical of both sides of the argument.   At very least it will help you to balance your own thoughts on the matter.  I hope it does more than that.  I sincerely hope that it helps your dealership as you begin to modernize your Managed Print practice for the future.

We will continue the working session around SBB at the Top 100 Summit that is taking place in Park City Utah on September 25th through 27th, 2015.  Are you on the guest list? We look forward to taking this conversation to the next level with you in person.