A salesperson's fate in either the auto or motorcycle business depends entirely on two things.....His motivation, and the quality of his sales manager. If you're motivated, enjoy the work, and aren't "under the gun" financially for a few months, you'll do well provided that your sales manager is a good one. He will either make or break you. I've been in and around the business for most of my life in either retail or wholesale. If you truly LOVE it, you'll find that it comes to you easily, and the money follows accordingly. If you have no genuine interest in selling and no interest in actually learning the trade, it isn't the best choice for you.

 

A good job right now would be "Bankruptcy Consultant".

 

If you are having a hard time in your state/area, have you considered relocating to a different state? It may be a step down, but alot of schools have a need for IT guys..not sure about the pay but you can't beat the days off.

 

1 question: how hungry are you??

 

During the recession of 1991, I moved to where the work was. Utah at the time.

 

You could always do like it looks like the rest of society will end up doing sooner or later except you will just be getting an early jump on the competition "Start Stealing".

 

Not sure about the money but the two sales guys I know fairly well at two different dealerships don't have time to ride.

 

Greetings,

I sell metric bikes (but own and ride HD) for a living. Before that, I sold cars. I'm glad I'm not in the car business. Can you take home 42K your first year never selling bikes or cars or anything like that? No. I'll bet your gross pay your first year is around 30-35K and it'll go up from there as you'll polish your skills, get repeat customers and such. There's a lot better jobs out there that would probably suit you a lot better. Dealing with the public is a whole other ballgame!

 

Tried retail one time, like alot of other old guys, I thought Home Depot was my dream job. They put me in the flooring dept. People use to come in take all the tiles, lay them out in the aisle, take a little look see, then start walking off. That's when I would tell them you didn't find that crap there when you came in. You need to put it back where you got it. Needless to say I didn't last long there. That job sucked.

 

May not be what you want to hear but, given the industry you just got laid off from, I'd consider moving to where the jobs are. SOUTH and you can ride all year round as well. Check out Huntsville, AL. A lot of great job openings and cheap to live as well. No snow and great area for riding..Hard to get a job the later towards the end of the year since people don't want to pay for the holidays and all that. Good luck on your search though. Something will open up. Been there, done that.