The Home Depot has added three membership tiers to its loyalty program for builders, contractors and other professionals who generate about half of the home improvement retailer's sales. Members earn rewards based on their spending levels, and higher spending will allow them to move to a higher tier and access additional perks including business assistance, exclusive events and deals on products and pricing.

Wakefern will hold an event in June to connect the supermarket company's private-label division with diverse private-label manufacturers. The Own Brands Supplier Diversity Summit follows Wakefern's Own Brands Supplier Innovation Summit that debuted last year, and product companies owned by women, veterans, people of color and members of other historically excluded groups can apply to participate in the event through Jan. 23.

A track-and-trace technology hub moves away from a single source of technology to allow for dynamic supply chain data that creates more efficient routing systems and shortens lead times, writes Alexander Necovski of packaging and logistics services provider Nefab. "Investing in a technology-agnostic platform can give businesses a competitive advantage while preparing them for future challenges," Necovski writes.

Digital twins can create precise virtual copies of everything from a single object to complete supply chains, allowing users to experiment with variables and alternatives before committing to production. Poornima Apte explores 10 ways digital twins can be profitably employed by a variety of enterprises, including supply chains and warehouse operations.

Business-to-business marketers can manage the unpredictability of the coming year by taking five steps when setting and monitoring their budgets, Jared Stearns writes. Be agile both in outlook and with strategies, Stearns advises, and conduct a comprehensive analytics review along with an audit of the martech stack.

Sales success predictors such as empathy and ambition are crucial to homing in on the reactions of customers during sales calls and adjusting based on the reactions, Matt Heinz of Heinz Marketing says in this interview with "The Empathy Edge" author, Maria Ross. Sales leaders should help their teams see beyond the pitch deck, really listen and answer questions as they crop up, Ross says.

Leaders can best use their power and influence to inspire their team when they communicate their vision, goals and expectations clearly, build strong relationships and display adaptability, empathy and problem-solving skills, writes Lolly Daskal. "To be an effective leader, it is important to continuously develop and improve your leadership skills, and to stay open to learning and growth," Daskal writes.

Conduct a calendar cleanse to remove commitments you can't keep, schedule tough tasks for times when your energy is abundant and use time blocking instead of scheduling specific tasks to improve efficiency and focus, writes technical recruiter Jennifer Magley. "The intent of a cleanse is to jump-start a process of improvement by getting rid of toxic and unhealthy things," Magley writes.