Meet the SmartSign team: Jaryd Coleman

Jaryd Coleman was born and raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He majored in marketing at the University of Rhode Island, but decided to return to the profession he began as a kid: sales. From the impish adolescent selling auto glass at his family shop to a top salesperson and now product manager at SmartSign, Jaryd has always had a passion and knack for helping people find what they need.

Charity: You just got promoted!

Jaryd: Well, I moved to product management after a year and a half in sales.

Charity: I imagine you’re still getting your sea legs. What do you do as a product manager?

Jaryd: Mostly introducing new products to our websites. I’m writing product descriptions, and this week the team is creating a brand-new product from scratch and seeing if one of our vendors can make it.

Charity: How do you manage new products?

Jaryd: We watch what custom signs customers are creating. Sometimes, we’ll make one of those into a stock product. This happens a lot with OSHA and safety signs; after all, there are so many different ways to communicate safety. In some workplaces, you may want a sign that just says, “Be careful,” while another may want “Please be careful.” It’s also how we keep up with trends in the industry. If people are suddenly ordering, “Be careful, there’s sulfate or bicarbonates,” we want to make sure we’re catering to that need.

Other kinds of custom signs are common too. Sometimes a customer just wants to change a letter, say, ‘hour’ to ‘hours,’ and we can do that. Signs that have rules on them–like swimming pools and dog parks–are often custom too, since people want to put their own spin on things.

Charity: So, do you own any signs?

Jaryd: I don’t at the moment, but I do love to see our signature signs as I drive around. My parents and my friends ask me how I can pick them out, and it’s because we made certain designs; we’re the only ones who make them.

Charity: But in your new job as a product manager, you’re not really going to work with customers anymore? They’re going to miss you.

Jaryd: Haha, I know. Well, the good news is that I’ll still be helping out with tab sales, since that was my specialty.

Jaryd is SmartSign’s tab master.

Still, as much as I enjoyed sales, I’m looking forward to diving into product management. You have a few interesting responsibilities. One, you’re looking for new vendors. You’re marketing our ability as a company to them, to show them it’s mutually profitable. You need to find common ground.

Sales and product management are different, but you still get the same statics. You have to be presentable, courteous. You have to know your stuff and to be able guide a customer to the product that will make them most satisfied.

Charity: I bet having a background in sales will really help you in your new role.

Jaryd: Definitely. Instead of having to go interrupt the salesperson who is waiting on calls, I can answer questions too.

Charity: Why do you think you were so successful in sales?

Jaryd: Having the background definitely helped: as a kid I worked for my dad. I had to make a sale to make money for the family business. I’ve also worked as a waiter. I’ve done door to door sales. I’ve learned different aspects of sales.

Charity: What would you say is the secret to being a good salesperson?

Jaryd:  Just being persistent. I keep in mind the 40/20 rule. Knock on 40 doors, talk to 20 people, get five interests, make one sale.

I like SmartSign, though, since people call because they already want a sign. More or less, they call asking detailed questions, so our salespeople have to be well-versed in the ins and outs of our products. You could easily say someone is a product specialist as much as they’re a sales rep. 

Charity: Why do you think people should buy from us instead of bigger scale retailers like Amazon?

Jaryd: A big benefit is that when you call us, you get someone right away. There’s rarely a wait to talk to someone, and all our salespeople have been trained about our products. You won’t typically hear, “Hi, this is Jared. Oh, that’s your question? Let me pass you off to someone else.” 

While we don’t have the broad scope of Amazon, we have more options when it comes to our specialties. They can’t beat our product knowledge. Another huge aspect is customization. And of course, our pricing. Look at our prices two years ago: they haven’t really gone up or down. We make a point to have consistent and low prices.

Our track record is very strong too. Look at our return rates and feedback. We get a lot of return customers because they’ve had a good experience. When I worked in sales, I would say about 20-25% of calls I received were from return customers who were contacting me directly. And that’s your goal, get someone to call you back directly. Then it can be as simple as, “Oh, I remember you. Let’s do it.”

Charity: Ok. On a more personal note, how do you like working at SmartSign?

A memorable day at SmartSign: it took three hours to walk the two mile commute to the Brooklyn office after Hurricane Sandy.

Jaryd: The culture is great. I come from a small town in a small state, and I love the diversity I get to see here. Case in point: lunch.

I think I’ve had the most exotic foods I’ve ever had in my life just from what people share: Dominican, Jamaican, Indian. Personally, I brought shepherd’s pie to the last company lunch. I found out no one knows what Shepherd’s pie is here.

Charity: What? No one knows about shepherd’s pie? It’s all the best things together.

Jaryd: Beef, corn and potatoes, yes. What could be better?

Charity: I also seem to remember you were one of the culprits who was pranking our live chat when it was brand new?

Jaryd: Haha, yes. I made one of the first orders, along the lines of: “Hi, my name is Jergon. I’m from Germany. I need 100,000 asset tags and I need them in the next two weeks.” Angel, who was answering live chat, got on there and started to rustle and bustle to pull it together. I confessed pretty fast, though.

Charity: I do remember that company-wide email requesting everyone stop pranking Angel on livechat.

Jaryd: We had a good laugh. It’s a fun culture here, and people work hard. For us, sales competitions are important. You always want your name on the board… and I made sure mine was first.

Charity: Glad to hear it! Thanks for talking with me, Jaryd.

Jaryd: Happy to. And if any of my old customers want to say hello, all they need to do is order tabs!