Selling Tech Data to Apollo Growth Management is the right move for the company and its stakeholders, and it reflects the company's industry-leading position, says CEO Rich Hume. "The beauty of the Apollo group is that they provide a level of autonomy and independence within each of the businesses that they own," he says.

A majority of purchasing managers surveyed by Digital Commerce 360 B2B already buy from Amazon Business and plan to increase their spending on the marketplace in 2020. Only 12% of respondents are spending the majority of their procurement budgets on Amazon and other marketplaces.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is considering a takeover of Dutch diagnostics firm Qiagen, according to a Bloomberg report. In October, Qiagen CEO and Chairman Peer Schatz announced his plans to step down from the company, which generates $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

Gopher Industrial has grown by adding a 350,000-cubic-foot distribution center and a physical storefront while maintaining its focus on hose, welding and safety products. The company sets itself apart from competitors by adding value through superior customer service and having strong vendor and supplier relationships, says co-owner David Jones.

Marketing teams must emphasize the quality and ease of service that they provide their customers as business-to-business buyers continue to look for convenience, writes David Gordon. "Staying close to customers to understand their needs and meet their expectations is critical to staying ahead, innovating and driving sales," Gordon writes.

Business-to-business marketers can harness public relations expertise to bring sales and marketing closer together by creating thought leadership content that's based on the insights of sales leaders and directly addresses customer pain points, Lindsey Groepper writes. "Just as PR must be brought into the fold as a legitimate source of content, sales leaders must be treated as a source of ideas as the voice of the customer," she writes.

Give team members the freedom and direction they need to complete assignments even as you monitor their progress and step in as needed, writes Naphtali Hoff. "If you see that things are starting to veer off the rails, you'll need to figure out how to correct or redirect the process to put it back on track," Hoff writes.

Conflict is inevitable, but destructive conflict must immediately be addressed through steps such as peer review, professional coaching and counseling, or dismissal, writes consultant and board member Fred Engelfried. "Failing to confront destructive conflict emboldens others to act the same while demotivating many more," he writes.

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