Signagelive talks to Channel Sales Manager, Jarad Flax, on his new role and plans for the US and Canada

“We’re a new lean, super-strong team for the US”

After enjoying phenomenal growth in the EMEA region in recent months, Signagelive is now setting its sights on expansion in North America, accelerating its plans for rapid growth with a newly formed team. Signagelive talks to its newest member, channel sales manager, Jarad Flax, to find out more about him, his role and plans for the US and Canada.

• How did you come to work in the digital signage industry?

My digital signage life started way back in 2009, when I was a business development representative for a local distributor. About two and a half months into my job, my boss told me that the two people responsible for the digital signage business had left, and I was asked if I wanted the role. The truth is that I had never heard of digital signage until 2.5 months prior to that offer, but even back then I was always drawn to a new challenge, so I said “yes” and the rest, as they say, is history. I went on to work for a reseller, and then returned to a different distributor, before working for both an AV goods manufacturer and AV services company.

• What made you want to join the Signagelive team?

What really strikes me about Signagelive – and key to its success – is how the importance of developing long-term relationships with customers and partners is really ingrained into its everyday work culture.

This really appeals to me, because building relationships – forging – and nurturing productive partnerships is what I’m truly passionate about. I like helping people and making introductions, and that’s a big part of my job.

When my children ask me what I do for a living, I always tell them that I make friends of strangers. I truly believe that this is the base element of what I do, and what helps build businesses. 

With this new role, I also have the opportunity to use my experience as well as further develop my skills in software. I relish new challenges, and this job offers me the scope to strategise and really drive the business across the Americas.

• What does your new role entail?

My role involves working with, as well as prospecting and selling to distributors, resellers and OEM manufacturers within the Americas. It’s essentially going to require a multi-faceted approach to ensure that I address the needs of each channel – and every individual customer, and I’m excited. 

There are very few roles in the ecosystem that I haven’t touched directly or indirectly and I feel like that makes me, from a trust perspective, a more trusted resource. I have not only developed a lot of great relationships in these three channels, but also worked within them, which gives me real insight into the requirements and challenges they face. 

To give you an example, right now, we are battling supply chain issues across the US, but in my last role, even though I was selling services and not displays, I was able to find some displays that my customer was looking for. I’m always excited when I can draw on my knowledge, experience and connections to go the extra mile for customers. It’s something that I hope to do in my new role to give Signagelive customers an extra competitive advantage, wherever possible.

I’m really looking forward to delving back into my professional network and rekindling some of the relationships that were interrupted by the pandemic. Covid-willing, I hope to have the chance to see, in person, many customers, old and new at ISE 2022.

• What do you hope to achieve with Signagelive?

As a team, we have big ambitions for the US, believing that there is a lot of opportunity here for growth, and to equal the success of Signagelive in EMEA. We’re a lean, super-strong team – the right team, I believe, to make fast progress across the Americas. Hungry for success, and with a digital signage content solution that has proven its value across EMEA and Globally, we can offer the US market an exciting challenger brand proposition. Moving forward into 2022, I’m very optimistic that we can build out the business to the point where we will need many more of me – many more sales people. 

To be successful and earn the trust of customers, I know having a consistent, open and on-going line of communication will be key. I’ve already been chatting with current and prospective customers and the main message I am getting is that, if they are chatting to someone and all of a sudden, that person disappears and goes dark, they will no longer trust that person. So, that is a lot of communications to keep up with, but I do think I’m up to the task.

In the long-term, an important part of my role will also be to increase the mindshare of Signagelive in the US and Canada. By introducing and demonstrating the capabilities of Signagelive, I believe that we can create this really nice network of referrals and introductions.

• Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m a sports lover. Although I’m now based in South Carolina, I’m originally from New Jersey, so I’m still a big fan of neighbouring state, New York’s Jets, Mets, Knicks, and Rangers.

I’m also an avid disc golfer, which is not the same as a ball golfer. I do play regular golf, but not well! I have a group of seven guys and we go out every Sunday morning at 8am. It’s a nice hike around the woods, where every once in a while you have to throw a frisbee! 

On top of this, I’m a self-confessed old school ‘80s kid nerd, which means I can name pretty much any superhero you want, and I can talk you through their real names, and probably who played them in the movies. In the ‘90s, I dreamt of a time that we would have movies and TV shows about comic book characters I grew up with and couldn’t be happier that time has arrived!     

To learn more about Signagelive solutions and to discuss your digital signage requirements, please get in contact with us.