Eagle Dealer Services
The Used-Car Turnaround Model
Eagle Dealer Services specializes in dealership turnarounds — rebuilding underperforming used-car operations into disciplined, high-performing profit centers. This isn’t theory. It’s a proven model that boosts volume, PVR, and consistency across every process.
Fundamental #1 – Superior Sourcing & Pricing That Drives Traffic
Make sure you actually have the inventory. You can’t build inventory if you’re relying on the auction — where you’re at least a hundred dollars higher, or thousands higher, than anybody on the planet because you’re bidding against someone who’s either desperate, careless, or just running you up.
Then you’re adding reconditioning costs on unseen vehicles, depending on condition reports, plus shipping and rising auction fees just to get that car to your lot. By the time it arrives, your gross is already gone — there’s no opportunity left.
The smart play is to control your pipeline — source off the street and out of the service drive. That means having a process that’s not just written down but executed by leadership every single day.
How many customer-pay and warranty repair orders hit your shop each month? Whatever that number is — multiply it by 4%. That’s how many vehicles you should be pulling straight out of your service department every month and adding to your used-car inventory.
Those are the best cars you’ll ever buy: local cars, serviced cars, vehicles you can put on the lift and inspect before you pay for them. You don’t have to outbid anyone. You just need the right process and leadership engagement to convert them.
And if you’re buying third-party leads from ‘we’ll buy your car’ sites like Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, Accutrade, etc., train AND LEAD your team to convert at least 10% of those leads into inventory. That’s real, controllable supply — no auctions, no transport, no surprises.
Fundamental #2 – Align Marketing With Inventory & Sales Execution
As you source inventory, the next step is alignment — making sure your marketing, merchandising, pricing, and leadership all move in the same direction every single day.
Look at your website. Are your photos clean, uniform, and perfect — or all over the place? Are your cars priced to win the click? Are your descriptions engaging, with a real call to action?
Photos. Descriptions. Pricing. There are only two types — perfect and everything else – which are just different degrees of terrible.
Now, look at your lot. Are your cars clean, standing tall, and ready for retail — or sitting with flat tires, dead batteries, or broken wipers? Is someone starting and moving those cars daily so they don’t end up with flat spots that cost you $1,500 in tires after you sell them? Does every car have enough gas for a real test drive? Are your keys secure and checked every morning and every night so your $4 million in inventory doesn’t walk off the back lot with somebody’s roommate?
Are your salespeople taking walk-around videos and posting them on their own social media pages? Are they showcasing inventory where the customers already are?
Do you have a process that lets you advertise a car online only price, but still sell it at a retail price to walk ins — while staying compliant and maintaining trust?
Do your sales and management teams follow a process 100% of the time to under-allow strategically on trades and purchases? Do they know how to manage the customer’s perception so the number feels fair while protecting gross? That’s not trickery — it’s process execution.
When marketing, merchandising, pricing, and leadership all align, your store stops reacting and starts executing — with more traffic, stronger grosses, faster turns, and total control.
Fundamental #3 – Restore Leadership Engagement & Accountability
Most dealerships make sure a manager gets the chance to T.O. every guest who walks onto the showroom floor. That’s standard — everyone sees those customers.
But does your leadership team ENGAGE every opportunity — every CRM lead, inbound phone call, or outbound conversation when a salesperson finally reaches someone?
The showroom guests are easy. The virtual opportunities are the ones that slip through your hands and end up across the street.
Every one of those must have manager ENGAGEMENT, and a leadership voice — one hundred percent of the time.
That’s what leadership accountability looks like — not sitting in the tower waiting for deals to go sideways, but being proactive, engaged, and present in every deal.
When leadership shows up 100% of the time, your closing ratios climb, your grosses grow, and your culture tightens up overnight.
Eagle Dealer Services Turnaround Framework
#1 – Superior Sourcing & Pricing: Control your inventory pipeline.
#2 – Alignment: Marketing, merchandising & sales in sync.
#3 – Leadership: Every opportunity gets a leadership touch.
Every process, every opportunity, every dollar — controlled.
