I agree with MGourley, sales should not be pushing a product that isn't ready. If you've got product and it has no determined specifications, it's not ready to be sold. Sales needs to wait until the product development process is complete before sending out product. That's like a salesman trying to sell a car without knowing anything about it, except it's red and has four wheels. Sales can maybe hint to customers that they have a product being developed which may be of interest, but also let them know it's still a work in progress and they will be updated when product is ready for sale or sampling.
While finalized specifications may not be finished before a scale up to pilot production (often times much more data is required to finalize a brand new spec), a preliminary specification sheet could be written. It may not have all the characteristics, but the ones that are known could be provided. At the very least, I think a Certificate of Analysis could suffice in this case to measure the characteristics observed and send those along with the product. That way there are reportable results to which the customer can use for their needs, and future specifications can be built upon.
Product specifications are especially important to customers for matching purposes. Often times, they are moving from one supplier to another to get a better product. The specification tends to be the first line of approval. We check ranges and characteristics to see how closely future lots will match with what we're getting. If the specs are close, then we can move into getting a sample. The only time we may not ask for a product specification up front, is if we are making a product that has not been well established and is truly an R&D project rather than an extension or revision of something we already produce. However, this would only be for samples to use in the lab. We get specifications before we scale up or else ingredient will not be approved.
QAGB