To understand the company's financial performance, you'll need to not only be fully versed in the company's products and services to make better investment decisions. You'll need to focus on their marketing materials, the company's sales team, and what their competitors are offering to offer better financial advice. So don't just memorize their products and services, but also read the company's marketing materials, talk to the company's sales reps, see how effective they are in selling you on their products, and do the same with their competitors. Get first-hand experience of the products and services and how they work.