I used this technique to great success in a few companies where infrastructure operations was critical to the business (cloud provider, SaaS companies), by havi

I used this technique to great success in a few companies where infrastructure operations was critical to the business (cloud provider, SaaS companies), by having myself and other members of my team where I was the tech lead work with Support and Sales to get direct exposure to customer problems and the internal problems facing staff who deal directly with customers. Not only did this help our operational staff who are mostly "back of house" gain an understanding about our customers, how they use the product, and the impact of operational decisions, but it also helped us get more empathy for the staff that bridged between us and the customer, and we found ways to bring some actions closer to the customer by enabling Support to do some things without needing to submit a ticket and wait on us. I really wish this was more common in the industry, now as a Product Manager, while I do a lot to engage with field teams (Support, Sales) and work across every group in the company (Legal, Finance, Eng, Ops, Support, Sales, et al), I still only get interactions and snippets, it'd be great to go walk a mile in their shoes.