Salesmeister

VP Sales

Offer rescinded....

Recently received a job offer. Prior to the offer I was doing my due diligence on the company and asking a lot of questions to determine the fit between us. I talked to many people as I always do when looking at a new opportunity. to me an offer was imminent. I thought to reach out to the guy previously in the position as I spoke to him before when I networked into the company about 6 months prior. My understanding was that he departed gracefully for a position with a PE owned company. We had a great conversation. He gave the CEO great reviews, saw me and my background as a good fit and added credibility to the position. All good! I was about 80% on liking the job and he got me to about 95%.

Offer came, I reviewed with HR. All good. Now to the CEO for the comp discussion... prior to me arranging that call he calls me, quite flustered.... Long story short he felt it was a breach of trust and if I wanted to have that conversation I should have contacted him and he'd arrange it.... he further went on to say that he and the Exec team and a couple members of the board decided to rescind the offer and may perhaps consider reevaluating at a later time. I left it good, whatever you want to do and feel is right CEO man - I didn't tell him to go shit in his hat and how I felt his accusations were completely ridiculous.... I did explain myself to him and my intent in reaching out to the guy was to better myself to hit the ground running if we came to an agreement on the offer - much I don't think he understood or wanted to listen... He just came at me with why that was wrong, trust issues and yada yada yada..

I smell a rat, bad situation, not a good leader as he never first tried to seek to understand. Glad the tiger revealed his stripes now vs after accepting an offer...

Any thoughts on this? I don't think I'd change what I did as part of my due diligence, however I'm open to feedback.

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18

25 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

7

🦊

I don't think you did anything wrong. Take it as a blessing of missing the pain of what your future would have been.

An AE taking initiative to move a deal along? Heaven forbid.

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

oh great point!! if he has problems with you taking initiative on THIS? what will he expect on deals? who knows?!

SaaSam

Politicker

5

Account Executive

Sounds like the kind of CEO that forces his employees to leave 5 star glassdoor reviews on threat of termination.

jefe

Arsonist

4

🍁

You acted very reasonably and likely dodged a bullet with Mr. Asshat CEO

UserNotFound

Politicker

2

Account Executive

That CEO is out of his mind if that’s a breach of trust. First of all, there is no trust here and you should be doing exactly this. Second of all- thank god that happened, ‘eh?

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

wow this is a really crazy situation.

it does not sound like you did anything wrong here. In fact im impressed you kept your cool.

it's a major red flag that the CEO reacted this way and I would probably take them off my list of companies i would want to work for.

Nice work! sounds like you dodged a bullet.

Salesmeister

Fire Starter

2

VP Sales

In speaking with others just to check myself on this.. the common theme has been "sounds like you dodged a bullet"

jefe

Arsonist

4

🍁

I literally wrote you dodged a bullet right before I saw this

Sunbunny31

Politicker

4

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I was going to write that, but saw all the others, so I'll just say I agree.

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

yes it does seem like there was a bullet that has been dodged in this situation 😂

Bodhisattva

Tycoon

1

CRO

Dodged a bullet. Generally, anyone that concerned with “trust” or someone who’s concerned what their employees will give some sort of negative feedback is a basket case and would have been a horror to work for… congrats for avoiding a train wreck.

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You were doing your own reference checks. Nothing wrong with that. He just didn’t like you reference checking him and felt you were trying dig up dirt.

The guy is a paranoid buffoon and you dodged a bullet here

WenWest15

Valued Contributor

1

Principal Business Development Manager

I'm 50-50 on this one. Back door references on either side are tough to justify & do leave people feeling like trust is strained. What if he'd just randomly called one of your clients or a former coworker/supervisor to see what they thought of you? Would you be cool with that? I'd be freaked out for sure if someone did that to me... but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Salesmeister

Fire Starter

0

VP Sales

I'd have no problem with it. I have a great track record and good relationships. If he made a decision on me over 1 pissed off employer/employee, he's not the guy I'd want to work for. I received both good and bad opinions of him. Spoke to several people about him and the company and from there I triangulated my position and opinion on him and the company. One bad reference doesn't spoil the bunch in my opinion... Thank you for the honest feedback!

WenWest15

Valued Contributor

0

Principal Business Development Manager

Then it does sound like you dodged a bad situation!

SADNES5

Politicker

1

down voters are marketing spies

Dodged a bullet. How did he know about your private conversation?

Salesmeister

Fire Starter

1

VP Sales

No idea. Really don't care that he found out. I do care about how he reacted and came at me accusatory vs seeking to understand before chastising and telling me i went outside the circle of friendship..... :)

Salesmeister

Fire Starter

0

VP Sales

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated!

SaaSMaster

Politicker

0

Strategic Partnerships Manager

If that’s the way the CEO reacted to you doing your due diligence, I’d say you’re better for it

Justatitle

Big Shot

0

Account Executive

seems like you avoided a nightmare to be honest. there was that 5% of your gut too

DefaultSalesDude

Executive

0

Director

Your efforts should have showed him how thorough, thoughtful, and artful to get a full picture view of the company, culture, and role. Sounds like you dodged a bullet and even if they came back down the line, I wouldn’t take it. Your brand will be tarnished coming in and will be on a short leash no matter what they say.

KPIMaster

Politicker

0

Enterprise Account Executive

You did the right thing and he’s in the wrong. How would he feel if his reps didn’t try to discover everything they could about a potential deal? Isn’t that the mark of a true consultative salesperson? Anyway, your actions are warranted and often encouraged by employers who are reputable.

cornerback16

Valued Contributor

0

Strategic Accounts

Did something similar for my current role. It was seen as a positive. Do they expect you not to due diligence???

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Nothing wrong about what you did.

kelvin26

Fire Starter

0

administrative manager

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