WESCO International and Anixter have agreed on a $4.5 billion deal, with Anixter breaking off an announced deal with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. The offer is valued at about $100 per share, with WESCO offering a mix of cash and stock.

Avnet's internet of things strategy provides channel partners with the resources needed to launch IoT businesses within a single platform, writes Louis Columbus. Avnet's IoTConnect features open architecture and a variety of analytics within a platform that "resembles an operating system more than a reseller enablement strategy," Columbus writes.

Distributors are likely to face growing pains as they focus more on e-commerce, and it's important not to minimize the concerns of employees who are affected by such changes, writes Bridget McCrea. Effective change management requires buy-in from top company leaders as well as clear messaging about the changes being made, McCrea writes.

It's a good idea to get away from Powerpoint regularly to ensure that it doesn't become a crutch, writes Colleen Francis. "When you abandon a series of slides, you allow for a conversation between colleagues, and give your audience room to breathe, as well as help them retain more of the conversation because the dialogue isn't rigid and structured," Francis writes.

Phil Britt, with the help of several business-to-business marketers, explores how to elevate B2B customer experience, including humanizing messaging, acting on customer feedback and understanding the need for a consistent team and wide-ranging strategy. "Building good B2B customer experience is all about being intentional with that experience throughout the entire lifecycle of your interactions with a new prospect or company," says Sendoso Chief Marketing Officer Dan Frohnen.

Leaders, like actors and athletes, are always being scrutinized by those they lead and need to project a strong image even when they don't feel 100%, writes John Baldoni. "Truth comes from doing what you do, and when you behave honestly and with integrity, people pay attention, and they will allow you to lead them," he writes.

The October kickoff meeting was so popular that the NAW Institute and Texas A&M are holding a second kickoff meeting Jan. 23, so more companies can participate in our groundbreaking Digitizing the Sales Process Consortium. Distributors: This is your opportunity to contribute to this fundamental research on how distributors will determine which portions of the sales process will be digitized. Learn more here; if you're interested, you have to register soon, because only two seats are available.

Don't miss the NAW 2020 Executive Summit: INNOVATE TO DOMINATE, Jan. 28-30! This year's forward-looking program and networking with distributors who are your peers will really shake up your thinking, provide you with fresh ideas and critical thinking, and give you a rare chance to benchmark your business. You'll walk away with valuable insights that you'll translate into ideas to help you run your business more effectively and profitably. Register today.

Called the "Master class in innovation for distributors," "Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series" has arrived. A roadmap for innovation, it helps distributors connect the dots between the forces of change and how distributors can change their business to capture opportunities -- and defend their business when necessary. The best innovations are about getting ahead instead of catching up.