Well. Now I've gone and done it. It was something I told myself I wouldn't do, which shouldn't come to much as a surprise to myself, as I also told myself "I'll never ride a scooter."
This was applying for a position as a salesman. Of course this was at a motorcycle dealership here in the backyard of the Northwest. Monroe, Washington. I've been looking for work since November and have been unsuccessful as of yet in getting hired in the maintenance or skilled labour* field. I'll admit it becomes discouraging and even causes anxiety to wonder when I, like so many will start working again. So a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month, I asked myself if I would enter the job market as a SALESMAN, what would I sell? On more occasions than I care to recount, someone has opined how well I could be at selling something.
When I bought my first motorcycle here in the Seattle area, it was an Awesome 91 Honda CBR600. It had the forks and swingarm swapped out from stock, to, 94 Honda VFR750 components. I got it for a great deal from a friend who works in the motorcycle industry. The point is that along with this friend who worked with motorcycles and the moto-journalists that I enjoyed reading in the various "rags" (magazines) I was into at the time, all seemed to have what I would consider a dream job. Think about it. As if so many haven't already. They get to work around motorcycles. Some design aspects about the motorcycles that we get to enjoy! They get to RIDE the motorcycles.
They get assignments that give them the task to take a motorcycle on a long a ride then tell us in so many number of words their opinions. I'm sure that they're urged to be objective and reasonable. But they get to ride a number of different bikes. On dirt, on the street and at the track. I'm not jaded enough to realize that they also have to deal with coming up with the right sentiments to jot down. Not damage the "goods" as they "CAREFULLY" run these machines within the range and specs of their design. Deadlines to meet. Meeting to prepare and the hate mail that will be directed to some because someone felt that "THEIR" motorcycle (sometimes I've read the published letters that make you think that their wife, mother or family name had been maligned)was written about poorly and that the writer had no idea what a great bike they'd had the honour (*Brit spell again. I'm Caucasian of course, according to the recent 2010 gov't census. Parents were both from Mexcico)) of setting their legs over and having haul their sorry rears down the highway!
Well enough of that tangent. The point I started with was... Yes. I applied as a motorcycle salesman. It took sometime before I pushed myself to do something I hated as well as loved. So I printed my resume that had nothing to do with sales and wrote up a cover letter to explain how my experience and history relates to the field. I drove about twenty minutes to a dealership that sells Suzuki, Yamaha's and other brands. There I was introduced to Scott who was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule and interview me on the spot. He started by asking me how I thought I might fit in such a different career than past work history, basically. I related my passion for motorcycles and what I knew about them including my personal experience. I also included experience in some aspects of previous "sales" jobs not listed on my resume. Then he did it! He asked those questions that most interviewees fear. NO, not like "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" or "What kind of fruit would you be?" Although I hate those questions too. What Scott started asking is: "What is a (TRX400)?" He was trying to gauge my knowledge of the industry. I don't remember what the exact models were he asked about and how many, but he was quick. I wasn't. I think I did pretty good, but I don't think, good enough. I did smile inside when he started to ask about a "Royal Star". When Yamaha started making some big waves in the cruiser market, they started with this model name. After a few years it segregated it's cruisers into the "Star" name brand. Like me, Scott was also recalling that time, I believe, till he quickly corrected himself.
Sales? So I tried it. If i'm going to sell something I wanna be knowledgeable, I wanna enjoy it and foremost I want to be honest. I've known to many, many salesman personally that can sell you their honest. ("sell you". Not tell you, they just tell you what you want to hear.) I want people to enjoy anything I would recommend to them for years. I do want them to feel and KNOW they can trust me. I want them bring in their friends, family, coworkers and even enemies. Why? How better to make friends than by helping someone to enjoy a motorcycle.
In essence I told Scott this when he asked if I thought I could sell motorcycles. "Yes" I answered. I did have to think about it. Me a salesman. The testimonials on their website was what prompted me to actually submit my nonsense resume for the position. People should enjoy what their hard earned money buys. All people should ride a motorcycle and if they've the ability to purchase one, maybe even from this particular dealership. Even if they don't carry Triumphs as one commenter wrote, or Honda's in my small opinion. And even If I'm not working there. You should ride/own a motorcycle
Well my usual "proof reader" who's also my accountant, personal secretary, gourmet cook, mother of my children and sometimes conscience, wanted to make it clear to myself and others. That besides all the areas she does help me in she's made me aware of my numerous grammatical and sentence structure errors. But besides pointing that out to me, SHE'S GREAT! Love you Doll.
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