Capital GMC Buick, a Canadian dealership, faced the familiar challenge of managing operations across multiple disconnected tools and legacy infrastructure. Moving to Tekion’s Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) unified the dealership on a single cloud- and AI-native platform and delivered immediate operational gains. Within weeks, deal cycles compressed from minutes to seconds. Effective labor increased. Staff adoption accelerated beyond initial concerns. Today, Capital GMC Buick operates with the efficiency that legacy systems cannot match—and the competitive advantage that comes with it.

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The Challenge—The Operational Friction Capital GMC Buick Was Fighting

Like many dealerships still operating on fragmented systems, Capital GMC Buick struggled with operational friction across every department. Service advisors met customers at the vehicle with pen and paper, jotting down repair needs, then manually transcribing everything into a computer system. This clumsy workflow created delays and missed upsell opportunities.

The business office faced a different bottleneck: presenting finance and lease options required toggling between multiple tools, a process that took 5 to 10 minutes per customer. Parts management was equally cumbersome, involving written notes, manual data entry, and outdated paperwork.

One critical leak: deferred services (customers who declined maintenance today) often got lost in the shuffle, leaving follow-up opportunities abandoned. Meanwhile, the dealership's in-house server infrastructure created ongoing headaches and IT burden. These inefficiencies compounded across every department, every day, dragging down both revenue and customer satisfaction.

The Solution—Choosing a Unified Platform

Capital GMC Buick recognized that fragmented tools create fragmented workflows, unhappy teams, and lost revenue. They needed a different architecture.

Why Tekion:

• One unified, cloud- and AI-native platform eliminates gaps between departments

• Real-time database means advisors, office staff, and managers work from the same source of truth—no more re-entering data

• Cloud infrastructure removes in-house server burden, IT overhead, and downtime risk

• Intuitive design accelerates staff adoption because the system makes their jobs easier, not harder

The result: departments that previously communicated through paperwork now communicate through the system in real time.

The Results—Operational Wins Across Every Department

Finance & Lease Cycles: 90 Seconds, Not 10 Minutes

Presenting customers with multiple finance and lease options now takes 90 seconds instead of 5–10 minutes of desk juggling. The dealership displays two finance options and two lease options in a clean, transparent format that customers understand immediately.

Multiple deals work simultaneously; the desk no longer becomes a bottleneck, and customers experience faster, more professional service.

"Now I can show a customer two finance options, two lease options within 90 seconds in a beautiful format that really shouts out transparency and it's easy to read."

—Adam Mohl, General Manager at Capital GMC Buick

Mobile Check-In Transforms Service Advisor Workflow

Service advisors abandoned pen and paper entirely. Tekion's mobile app lets them scan customers in at their vehicle and capture service needs in real time. Customers view recommendations visually and respond immediately.

Effective labor increased because advisors spend less time on paperwork and more time with customers.

"Typically, the advisor would come to meet you at your vehicle with a pen and paper. With Tekion, you have the app. So, scan them in right away."

—Brad Gatschene, Assistant Service Manager at Capital GMC Buick

Parts Scanning & Real-Time Inventory: 50% Faster

Scanning replaced manual, paper-based tracking. Staff now change part locations in real time—no more writing things down, running to a computer, and re-entering data. A mini-inventory cycle that once took hours now takes half the time.

"The scan tool is way more efficient when receiving orders or relocating parts because you can change them in real time. We just did a mini-inventory using the gun, and it took us half the time."

—Jacob Combrinck, Assistant Parts Manager at Capital GMC Buick

Capturing Deferred Services

One of the most overlooked revenue leaks is deferred services—customers who decline maintenance today and never get reminded. Tekion's contact center integration tracks these services so the dealership can follow up when customers return, converting missed opportunities into scheduled maintenance.

Previously lost follow-ups now become revenue-generating service appointments.

"One of the things Tekion really brought for us was the ability for our contact center to be able to work with the deferred services so customers will say no to a service today, and oftentimes then it gets lost."

—Brad Gatschene, Assistant Service Manager at Capital GMC Buick

One Unified Platform, No System Switching

Instead of juggling multiple systems, every department works from one cloud-native database. No more:

• Switching between tools mid-workflow

• Re-entering data across systems

• Hand-offs between departments creating delays

• Losing information in the gaps

Staff adoption accelerated because the new system made their jobs easier, not harder.

Cloud Infrastructure, No More Server Headaches

The move to cloud-native infrastructure eliminated the burden of maintaining in-house servers—no downtime risk, no IT overhead, no ongoing complexity.

"What sparked my interest in Tekion was one thing: the fact that it's cloud-native. It eliminates all sorts of different headaches that can come with having in-house servers."

—Adam Mohl, General Manager at Capital GMC Buick

Before & After Metrics—Efficiency Gains at a Glance

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Why This Matters—Unified Dealerships vs. Legacy Systems

If your dealership still operates on legacy systems with fragmented tools and in-house servers, you're experiencing this friction daily:

• Service advisors spend time on manual workflows instead of customer interactions

• Business office juggles multiple systems to show finance options

• Parts team writes things down twice

• Contact center loses deferred services in the shuffle

• IT team manages infrastructure that should be managed for you

The cost: Every minute spent switching systems or re-entering data is a minute not spent selling or serving customers. Every lost deferred service is a missed service lane opportunity. Every slow deal cycle is a customer who might walk out frustrated.

Dealerships that move to a unified platform see the shift: labor becomes more effective, customers get faster, more personalized service, and staff adoption happens naturally. Your dealership goes from fighting its own tools to leveraging them as a competitive advantage.

Ready to see what unified platform efficiency looks like?

Request a demo with Tekion today.

FAQs

How quickly do dealerships see results after going live?

Capital GMC Buick saw immediate improvements in deal cycles and parts management within the first weeks, with effective labor gains materializing over the first few months as staff became comfortable with new workflows.

What was the biggest concern during the transition?

Staff worried about disruption and the learning curve. However, Tekion's hands-on support and the platform's user-friendly interface helped the team adapt quickly.

Can you really compress deal cycles that dramatically?

Yes—Capital GMC Buick reduced what used to take 5–10 minutes to 90 seconds by consolidating finance and lease tools into one transparent comparison.

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