This week I had the opportunity to be a part of a couple of sales calls.   The purpose of having me on the call was to be able to answer the potential client's questions about our local marketing software from a technical and detailed perspective.  It's valuable from the sales team's perspective, because it helps the client get their answers quickly, and it's also valuable to ensure that we don't under or over promise during the sales process.  However, I'm now convinced that this process is a valuable one from a product team perspective as well, in more ways than one.  We, of course, want the feedback directly from our customers.  The obvious value is that it allows me the opportunity to gather that feedback and even expound on it real time, to dig a little deeper into the need.  The other surprising advantage for me, though, was being able to talk about the product from this perspective, which I rarely get to do.  I know the product inside and out, and know all the cool and sometimes surprising features it holds.  Often times my conversations with internal and external customers means listening to their needs when it comes to local advertising to think through where the product needs to go next.  Talking with a potential client in a sales arena allows me to listen, but also affords me the opportunity to speak openly and passionately about the product as it is right now.  The client may  have a different way of doing things but I can talk about why our local marketing software, while different, is the right way to go for their franchisees.  It's important to step back and gain that valuable perspective.