Why Sales Should Be Part of the Design Team
When we talk about innovation in design—especially inside big tech—we often focus on cross-functional collaboration between design, product, and engineering. But there’s another partner that’s too often left out of that conversation: sales.
In high-stakes enterprise environments, design is not just about creating better experiences for users—it’s about building belief. Belief that this vision is not only possible, but that it’s already underway. And no one is more responsible for shaping that belief in the market than the sales team.
If design teams are reimagining how a product works or introducing a bold new direction, the way those ideas are introduced to customers can make or break adoption. That’s why sales needs to be treated as an extension of the design and engineering team—because they're often the first ones to tell the story.
Storytelling is part of the design
Reimagining an experience isn’t just a matter of new workflows or cleaner interfaces—it’s about changing mental models. Customers need to understand what’s changing, why it matters, and how it will impact them.
That’s where storytelling becomes critical. A great design doesn’t speak for itself in a sales pitch. It needs narrative context. That story should:
Clearly communicate the vision of where the product is going.
Align with what engineering can deliver today—and how the rest will be realized over time.
Help customers see themselves in that future.
Design and sales need to co-create that narrative together, with shared language and aligned goals. When everyone is telling the same story, the message is not only more powerful—it’s more believable.
Crafting a story that deeply resonates
A good story isn’t just visionary—it’s grounded. It doesn’t just show what’s possible; it shows why it matters. For design and sales teams working together, the most powerful narrative is one that clearly explains how the new experience solves a core customer problem in a substantively differentiating way.
This is where good design and compelling storytelling meet: the solution must feel not only desirable, but inevitable. It should speak directly to a pain point customers recognize—something they care about deeply—and offer a way forward that’s both novel and believable. If the story resonates, and the design behind it feels credible, it becomes more than just a pitch. It becomes a rallying point.
When that happens, something remarkable occurs: customers don’t just ask when it will be ready—they want to help. They offer their feedback, they volunteer to pilot new features, and they become active collaborators in shaping what comes next. That level of engagement is gold for product teams. It not only validates the direction, it accelerates it.
Show the vision, show the code
In the world of enterprise software, vision alone isn’t enough. Customers are rightly skeptical of vaporware. They want to know that what’s being promised is actually being built—and that the company is committed to delivering it.
This is where design and sales can partner more strategically:
Design shows the vision—what the experience will look like when it’s fully realized.
Engineering shows the code—the early pieces already built that prove progress and commitment.
Sales bridges the two—setting clear expectations about what’s coming now and what will come later.
This trifecta—vision, code, and story—is what builds confidence with customers. It lets them buy into the future, not just the present.
Set expectations around iteration
The first version that ships is rarely the final one that was imagined. That’s not a flaw—it’s how innovation actually works. In design and development, iteration is key.
As teams release early versions of a new experience, they’re constantly gathering feedback, tuning functionality, and refining details. This means the fully realized design will likely evolve over several releases. Customers need to be brought into that process early. It’s important to set the expectation that what they see in the initial launches may not match the final vision completely—but it’s an intentional part of the journey. When customers understand the iterative nature of innovation, they’re more likely to give feedback, stay engaged, and champion the solution internally.
Designers must work with sales to make this clear: “Here’s what we’re aiming for, here’s what we’ve already built, and here’s what’s coming next.”
When sales and design teams are aligned, that message becomes more than just a pitch—it becomes a promise.
Building alignment toward customer excitement
In big tech, innovation doesn’t live in a Figma file or a codebase alone. It lives in the stories we tell—internally and externally—about what’s possible. Design creates the vision, engineering brings it to life, but it’s sales that often delivers that first impression to customers. If what they’re sharing isn’t aligned with what the design team is imagining—or what the product team is able to deliver—trust breaks down, and excitement turns into skepticism.
That’s why sales should be treated as an integral part of the design team. Not just because they talk to customers, but because they carry the vision forward in conversations that matter most. Salespeople are often the first to test how a design narrative lands in the real world. They’re on the front lines of belief-building—painting a picture of the future state, helping customers understand how a new experience fits into their world, and fielding tough questions about what’s real and what’s coming.
When they’re equipped with the right story, the right visuals, and the right expectations, they don’t just sell—they help design the belief that makes innovation possible. This alignment doesn’t happen by accident; it takes collaboration. Sales and design must work together early—sharing insights, language, and goals—so that what the customer hears is both inspiring and credible. When everyone tells the same story, from the first pitch to the final product, it builds trust, fuels momentum, and turns bold ideas into shared commitments.