Gan Chev ‘going green’ with paperless invoicing and electric vehicles
Gan Chev is reducing their carbon footprint and putting new measures in place to support the green vehicles of the future.
“The idea of carbon footprint, as it pertains to automotive in general, is something that’s always been a topic of the news, and we feel it’s important to address from a corporate culture standpoint,” said Mike Kellam, Operations Managers at Gan Chev. “We found some simpler ideas that we could do at the dealership that would make a reasonably big impact.”
A few changes have already taken place at the Gananoque dealership, including a change of recycling providers and an online option for customers to pay for service appointments.
Two years ago, Gan Chev changed recycling providers in order to increase what can be recycled at the dealership, and they installed bins in their lunch rooms and customer lounge for cans, bottles and paper. They have also had LED lights installed throughout the building, which lowered their hydro costs, but more importantly, is saving energy.
Kellam said their service appointments have the option to be completely paperless, as well as contactless. “Customers check their vehicle in with a kiosk, the work order is digitally generated, and it goes to them as an electronic copy,” he explained. “They approve any quotes or work necessary with a link on their phone, they can pay with that link, and they then get emailed their receipt.”
This small change means the service department is not printing invoices, credit card slips or receipts, which saves a lot of paper and time. A paperless filing system is also in the works, starting with their body shop CSN Gananoque. This will cut back on paper usage and waste, and will be implemented at the dealership as well.
Kellam is optimistic that they may have their paperless filing system up and running by the end of the year, which would mean an increase in efficiency for Gan Chev employees and customers.
“People will access all the files on their computer screen, rather than having to get up move around, photocopy something and bring it back to the desk,” Kellam explained. “I was asked, ‘if you could pick something a new business should focus on to try to go green, what would it be?’ I said not having paper and being able to get through customers faster. It ends up being something that probably makes us more customer-focused, while accomplishing the green initiative.”
The other side to “going green” is the sales and service of electric vehicles. Gan Chev is working to upgrade their infrastructure and add multiple charging stations around the dealership to support the electric vehicles through each stage of ownership.
Kellam said that GM has been promoting their multi-point vehicle health check for the last few years, in preparation for electric vehicle service. This health check includes a tire rotation as well as a check-up for the entire vehicle’s operating system.
“With electric cars, the multi-point inspection will be the main service. The brakes on an electric vehicle are part of the generator system. They need to be working properly so they will actually help to recharge the battery when the cars slow down. The rest of the regenerative generator system within the vehicle also needs to be in optimal condition. And the tires that come on electric vehicles are low rolling resistance tires. In order to maximize range, they definitely need to be rotated, and they’ve got to be in optimum condition at all times.”
Gan Chev will be providing more green energy vehicles to customers when their infrastructure system has been upgraded. They continue to offer excellent customer service, and find new ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Visit the Gan Chev website to see their current electric vehicle selection.
This article is sponsored by Gan Chev. If you are interested in a Business Feature on Kingstonist, contact [email protected]