One of the initiatives most beneficial to the design process is establishing a partnership with the sales team members in the field who conduct product demos and POCs. Meetings consist of them sharing what is working well, vs what needs improvement. Also newly designed features are presented for them to validate, and help shape to completion.
The effort to a successful partnership resides primarily in building rapport between the design team and the sales team members. When a salesperson hasn’t been involved in product development so directly before, the prioritization to participate requires building awareness and trust.
In my experience, some of the most pivotal design directives emerged from the deep acumen sales team members brought from being in the field with real-life case studies. Seeing their feedback translate into better design outcomes, created a tangible sense of contribution that ultimately deepened confidence in the product.
If your startup needs help with this, contact me on Slack.