[lumberjim]

Well, here's a little wrinkle:

Unbeknownst to my friend, ...we'll call him Mike, as that's his real name....Ed had already hired an F&I person.

He needs a salesmanager though.

That actually sounds even better than F&I, if marginally less rewarding financially. It would still be A major, major increase. And less hours. The F&I guy is always the last to leave, along with one of 4 salesmanagers. so, once or twice a week, i might get stuck there exceedingly late. and they close early friday night. so.....on the schedule, it would work out to less than i work here. granted that they put alot of extra time in, i'd most likely work the same or maybe a little more. It comes back to the ride in. and then it comes back to the pay.

I liked Ed. He's a cowboys fan. How sweet is that?

He seemed very honest, which is something Mike had said about him before. This is a high volume, well advertised, growing store, and the salesmanager path leads to General Salesmanager, leads to General Manager, Leads to Partner to Dealer Principle/owner/millionaire.

Having F&I experience, and salesmanager experience is a plus. This job would look very good on a resume. I get to pick from a whole new set of cars to drive as a demo. ( ive tried all the jeeps, and chryslers that were not demo exempt)

I could stay where i am in what i see as a shrinking dealership, or i could reach out and grab the rope tow. A big store like that can be intense when it's busy, but the organization methods he described seem to make a deal of sense, and it should be just like where i work at a busy time.

The big difference between a salesmanager and F&I is that, during a deal, the salesmanager lives in the moment, chipping away at the prize until he gets it , signs off, and lets the f&i guy and the salesman put it all together. You are the exertER of the pressure, not the exertEE, as you are in finance. In finance, the salesmanager may get a customer to say yes to buying the car, but until the approval is secure or assured, they dont really have a deal. You can imagine that the salesman and the salesmanagers want the f&i guy to be good at hs job, and get the difficult deals done. That can be pretty rough sometimes.

So, less pressured job, less hours than expected, still considerably more do-re-mi, and who knows what other perks i can negotiate with them if they want me. He offered a second interview if I wanted to go further...basically meaning admitting that I wanted the job...., and asked that I call him by 1 PM tomorrow to let him know, as he's going out of town for a couple days, and wants to at least schedule it by then. He mentioned a few other candidates, and implied that i was among the top two (I did the same thing when looking for an assistant....it's like fishing). So I need to make up my mind by then. To be honest, and at risk of jinxing myself, I have to say that I want to do it.

another con is that wolf could call me a car salesman, and I couldnt really argue with her. I'd actually be worse......I'd be that guy behind the desk like OZ. Everyone hates that guy.

I'm going to drive there during rush hour, tomorrow, just to make sure i can tolerate the ride ( which, btw, would only be in traffic 3 days a week). It took me just about 1 1/2 hours to get home, and i took a stupid way. ( and it rained so goddamn hard, i had to go slow for a good 20 minutes......you know, when it rains so hard, it might as well be snow, and the wipers dont work fast enough, and the trucks are heaving walls of water aside, and the giant thickwhite bolts of lightning are flaring. wow. it was awesome. my hands are sore from the deathgrip i had on the steering wheel.