Since taking over Book Depot in 2009, CEO Wilf Wikkerink has led the company to become the largest bookseller in North America and a retailer with employees at the heart of the business. In fact, Book Depot has been named as one of the most regulated companies in Canada.
The acquisition of the company’s biggest competitor three years ago was a huge success and is already transforming the Book Depot. Wikkerink believes that this agreement will continue to generate long-term benefits for customers and dealers, and for all members of the company’s team in the USA and Canada.
“As our business has grown over the years, I’ve had to let go of the day-to-day details and delegate them to our team,” says Wikkerink. “As an entrepreneur, I can best serve the organization by letting others handle the day-to-day details, allowing myself to think about the big picture and where we want to take the business in the future.”
Wikkerink is well known for fostering a culture of excellence at Book Depot where employees enjoy their work and work passionately together to provide an exceptional customer experience.
Creating a Culture of Entrepreneurship and Adoption of Technology
The entrepreneurial culture has been the foundation of the company’s success. They embrace technology to innovate and achieve greater efficiency. More than five years ago, Book Depot introduced the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which Wikkerink says has truly changed the organization. He explained that EOS is a simple set of ideas and practical tools to help you become better at running your business. Part of the EOS process is setting long-term goals (one year, three years, and 10 years) for the business and developing a set of strategic priorities (known as rocks in EOS parlance) every 90 days to help achieve the one-year goal.
As CEO, Wilf Wikkerink is passionate about sharing Book Depot’s vision with employees, customers, and suppliers alike, building lifelong relationships at home and abroad. He focuses on getting the right people on the team while investing heavily in improving automation and technology.
Wikkerink considers Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be an exciting factor in today’s markets, and welcomes exploring its use. “While it’s exciting, like anything new, it can also be disruptive, as we’re still looking at how this will transform our workplaces, our jobs and our daily lives. “The most exciting thing about AI is how it will increase productivity, as we can eliminate a lot of mundane, repetitive tasks with AI, freeing up people to spend more time on the high-value tasks that are building the organizations of the future,” he said.
Bullish on the Future of Books
Wikkerink believes that the print book business will continue to be a strong business in the future.
“We faced several storms last year including the book and the Covid-19 pandemic. When the Kindle came out in 2007, there were many who predicted the end of the physical book business. Many in our industry despaired and expected the worst, but that’s when we decided to spend some time investigating how we can build our business for the future, to embrace new technology and innovation to strengthen our company.”
Wikkerink said this was the beginning of Book Depot’s automation journey. The pandemic also proved that consumers love a physical book – while supply chains are struggling to cope with the increasing demand for e-commerce and consumers have had to wait weeks for their books to be shipped, a very large percentage of customers still prefer a physical book. e-book, which they could find in seconds.
“While e-books will always have their place in the market, today’s consumers have proven time and time again that they love the feel and smell of a physical book,” said Wikkerink.
Staying Inspired and Motivated
For Wilf Wikkerink, the key to staying motivated and motivated in difficult times is gratitude. “Often our first reaction, myself included, is to ask why we have to face this difficult thing, rather than understanding what we can learn from this challenge. When you start from a state of gratitude, it helps you and gives you a better idea of ​​how to deal with the difficulties at hand—how to deal with them and what to learn from them. Being optimistic and setting your team’s vision is very important as a leader in difficult times. “
Winkerink went on to say, “As leaders, we need to be warriors of hope.” I’m not just talking about painting a bright sky when it’s clearly gray, but rather, being honest about the situation you find yourself in, sharing stories of how you as a team overcame past challenges, and talking about some of the current options. , although you may not have all the answers. Regular communication is also very important during difficult times. “
One of the most important factors in building and maintaining relationships, Wikkerink believes, is meeting face to face. “Although technology is great today, there is no substitute for sitting down and sharing a meal with your colleagues or colleagues. A phone call or video call is less free-flowing and tends to follow a more structured agenda or to-do list while a dinner meeting is more free-flowing and allows discussing new ideas and opportunities. And it’s a way to connect with the people you work with, learn about their families, their hobbies and interests.”
For Wikkerink, this creates trust, which in turn builds relationships.
Despite his busy schedule, Wikkerink emphasizes the importance of taking time off, explaining that the business can operate without him during the holidays when he “goes dark.” Going black involves leaving her phone behind and avoiding emails, phone calls, and texts. “It allows you to read good books, think more strategically about business, and connect with your loved ones,” he said.
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