Industrial or Outside sales ?

[Angel]

Hey Y'all,
The short version of the story is this - There might be an opening for Klockner-Moeller factory rep in my part of Ohio. Right now I am doing controls Engineering for a conveyor company that specializes on retail distribution centers. This factory rep job sounds pretty good (base salary + sales bonuses, company car, work from home, cover a 4hr radius from my house...). It sounds pretty good, and I might even have a string I could pull to get me in...

My problem is this - I've never been in "sales" before. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology, I've always wanted to design and build things, becoming technically excellent in the process so a "sales" position isnt exactly what I had in mind-the impression I get is that a factory rep would get training/support so that he/she would become technically proficient...with that companies products =)

I used to be Reactor Operator on a submarine, now I'm just a nameless dad who drives a desk half of the time and works on jobsites the other half of the time wishing he made more money and had more time to spend at home. I deal with salesmen/distributors/factory reps a little bit right now, but my company is an OEM so I think we get "special" treatment sometimes (with the volume of $$ we do...)

Anyone in Industrial or outside sales care to comment ? My "in" thinks I'd be good for the job, but I'm still not sure what I'd be getting myself into. What % late nights ? How many interrupted dinners ? How many trips to HQ for training courses ?

Thank you in advance, I have a lot to think about already...

-John