Stuck in the Elevator with… Jack Palmer, Business Development Executive

Jack Palmer has recently joined our USA sales team, after more than 20 years in the IT industry! At Techbuyer, he’s looking forward to combatting some of the myths around refurbished IT hardware. Whilst not at work, he loves nothing more than taking his wife and three dogs out on their boat around Jersey Shore. Here’s our quick interview with Jack Palmer, Business Development Executive.

What attracted you to Techbuyer? Techbuyer has the highest ratings on Glassdoor and Indeed. The job opening matched what I have been doing for over 20 years… it looked like a perfect fit.

What were your first impressions of Techbuyer? Techbuyer is high energy, fast paced and extremely friendly. It’s a laid-back atmosphere moving 100 miles an hour!

What do you like about working in the IT industry? I like new technology and working with people. Sales and sales management in IT is the perfect fit for me.

Do you think confidence in refurbished enterprise IT equipment is growing? That is a tough one. I think the trade market is more adapted to the refurbished market than enterprises. I can see the confidence in the server market is higher than the network side, but there is really no reason for this with Techbuyer’s extensive warranty on all equipment. There are still quite a lot of end users who are misinformed about refurbished equipment. I think we have to educate the end users about the quality of refurbished equipment and the fact that it enables budget to be spent elsewhere. Techbuyer provides long warranties, conducts thorough recertification processes and tests each part before it leaves the building, which has resulted in Techbuyer having lower RMA rates than OEMs. This is a great step towards combating the myths around refurbished equipment.

Why is it good to do business from New Jersey? New Jersey, particularly South Jersey, is centrally located in between New York City and Washington DC plus it’s next to Philadelphia all within driving distance. It is also located on the East Coast which has a booming economy.

If you weren't working in the IT sector, what would you be doing? I would probably be an electrician since I learned that first before technical training. If not that, then maybe a boat salesman.

Can you briefly explain your career history? I’ve been working in the IT industry all my life. I started out as a technician and worked my way into engineering. After that I was in project management, marketing then sales, before starting my own business selling refurbished network gear for over 17 years.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? I spend summer weekends on our boat at the Jersey Shore, Long Beach Island with my wife and three dogs. We don’t take it out much anymore, it’s more like a floating condo with a million-dollar view. We like the beach, so we spend our days there while the dogs stay on the boat in the air conditioning watching animal planet. At night there is usually a party on the dock or a group outing to someplace within walking distance. During the colder months, I fix/upgrade things around the house and dream about summer.

Tell us something we don't know about you! I raised my son and daughter by myself while working full time and going to college part-time (8 years). Good thing I was young then!

Techbuyer is a global leader in the buying, refurbishing and selling of enterprise IT hardware. Not only do we sell brand new IT parts, we also buy redundant parts such as servers, memory and storage and turn them into low-cost, quality refurbished IT equipment. Click here for more from the Stuck in the Elevator blog series.