I once worked for the rep that sold McDonnell & Miller products in New York.
They handed me a catalog on a Friday and told me that we would be the new rep the following Monday. I spent the weekend looking at that catalog. Not much of it made sense to me at the time, but the company also had hired a couple of the factory guys who had worked directly for M&M, so at least I had a place to ask questions, of which I had many.