Paragon Honda

Estimated read time: 10 minutes

Paragon Honda’s “Acres of Diamonds” Moment

How GM Brian Benstock turned Paragon Honda’s parts department into a national growth engine

“The acres of diamonds are right there, right underneath your feet.”
Brian Benstock, VP/GM, Paragon Honda and Acura

In a matter of weeks, Paragon’s online parts business grew into a serious monthly revenue engine, powered by tight execution, multi-channel expansion, and a leadership team that moves fast when the data is clear.

Inside Paragon’s Online Parts Growth Engine

Watch the moment Paragon decided to go all in on parts eCommerce.

Brian Benstock and the Paragon team on why online part sales are the next “acres of diamonds” opportunity.

The Moment Brian Benstock Realized the Growth Was Already Inside the Dealership

Paragon didn’t stumble into online parts sales. The shift started with data.

During a global industry presentation, Brian saw something that reframed how he looked at dealership growth entirely. Digital parts sales weren’t emerging quietly. They were accelerating faster than almost anything else in automotive retail.

Brian recalled:

“One of the fastest growing areas right now is digital parts sales.”

The data showed that online parts sales is one of the top three growth areas in the world contributing to dealership profitability.

That realization forced a different question. Not where do we expand next? But: What opportunity are we already sitting on and not fully using?

That’s when Brian connected the insight to a philosophy he had carried for years.

“My partner told me a story many years ago about acres of diamonds. The acres of diamonds are right there, right underneath your feet.”

The lesson was simple. Most businesses chase growth somewhere else while ignoring value already inside their operation.

For Paragon, that meant the parts department.

“We didn’t discover anything new. This was existing.”
“The opportunity is not out there. It’s right in front of you.”

Instead of adding rooftops or chasing expansion for expansion’s sake, Brian saw a clearer path:

“Everybody’s looking to have ten stores, twenty stores. How about we have one really, really good one and then we go out and get another one?”

Online parts eCommerce became the answer. What followed was the decision to go all in.

What Changed (And Why It Worked So Fast)

Like most dealerships, Paragon didn’t see explosive results the moment online parts went live.

At first, it looked exactly like what many dealers experience: a storefront turned on, orders trickling in, and modest growth.

“We turned on RevolutionParts, and we just let it go.”
“We were fifteen grand for three, four months.”

The business existed. But it wasn’t being actively built yet.

Then Paragon did what it always does when leadership recognizes real opportunity. They stopped treating online parts like a passive channel and started operating it like a growth initiative.

Budgets were adjusted. Marketing was activated. Marketplaces were opened. Processes were tightened. Every dial that could drive volume started getting attention.

And the impact was immediate.

“It opened up.”
“Literally overnight from thirty thousand to a hundred thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand… now a hundred and seventy thousand.”

Just as important, growth didn’t come from adding headcount or creating operational chaos.

“Other than the investment we made in that van, we didn’t hire any more additional people.”
“We got more efficiency, and we got more work done by the people we had.”

How Tires Became the Blueprint for Online Parts

Brian Benstock didn’t randomly decide parts eCommerce was the future.

Paragon had already seen the play work once before.

Years earlier, Brian identified categories that would continue to grow regardless of how the automotive industry changed. The insight led him to push the dealership aggressively into tires first.

“I said to Anthony, you’re gonna go out and get tires.”

The response wasn’t cautious.

“The next time they came around, he bought two hundred thousand dollars worth of tires.”

Suddenly, the team was staring at a warehouse full of inventory and one big question: now what?

The answer became the lesson.

Sell them faster. Deliver them easier. Reach customers beyond the counter.

The Lesson Tires Taught Paragon

Tires revealed a pattern that would later define Paragon’s online parts strategy:

• Demand doesn’t disappear with industry change
• Convenience wins customers
• Volume creates momentum
• Growth isn’t limited by geography

Tires proved Paragon could grow outside the traditional service-drive model.

Parts eCommerce became the next move because it followed the exact same logic, just at a much larger scale.

“Our market and our inventory is as big as we want it to be.”

Tires were the proof of concept. Online parts became the growth engine.

When Paragon Gets All In, They’re All In

This is where the story stops being about a program and starts being about a philosophy.

Paragon didn’t just launch a storefront. They didn’t just run ads.

They built infrastructure that signaled commitment.

“When Paragon gets all in, they’re all in.”

That mindset showed up everywhere. Even in delivery.

Paragon modeled its approach to local fulfillment after the company that rewrote customer expectations entirely.

“We purchased the same trucks that Amazon uses… the Sprinter.”
“If you’re gonna copy somebody, why not copy them?”

The “Sensei” Effect

Paragon already had momentum. What changed next was guidance.

Through RevolutionParts Consulting Services, Paragon began working with Jensay Numa, known across the industry as the eCommerce “Sensei,” an online parts eCommerce expert who has helped build and scale multiple multimillion-dollar dealership online parts businesses.

His role helped Paragon accelerate its strategy.

Brian describes the impact simply:

“It’s OPE. Other people’s experience.”
“We’re able to leverage that and ramp up our education overnight.”

On the ground, the changes were immediate.

“He’s just walking us through the site, showing us different areas that we didn’t know existed… sending out emails with VIN numbers when we didn’t get them automatically. It saved us a whole bunch of time.”

Then the numbers changed.

Marketing That Performed: Every $1 Generated $14 in Revenue

Paragon approached marketing their online parts business the same way they approached operations: test, measure, adjust, repeat.

Once the data became clear, the decision was easy. Every dollar invested was producing measurable return.

“[The return on our marketing investment] is fourteen to one.”

In simple terms:

For every $1 Paragon invested in marketing, the business generated $14 in parts revenue.

At that point, marketing stops being an expense and becomes a growth lever.

The RevolutionParts Marketing Agency focused on outcomes, not activity:

• Accelerating webstore revenue growth
• Launching and optimizing Amazon and eBay channels
• Running targeted promotions that moved inventory fast
• Refining pricing and shipping strategy to increase conversion
• Placing ads where parts buyers were already searching

Wherever. Whenever. However.

For the Paragon team, online part sales is a continuation of their entire philosophy.

“This is a continuation of Paragon’s effort to make it easier for people to transact in automotive whenever, wherever, and however it’s convenient for them.”

Because customer behavior has already changed.

“How often are we lying in bed with our phone or a laptop conducting business? That’s business today.”

“No more can it be that the service department opens at eight and closes at four.”

The dealership doesn’t define the transaction anymore. The customer does.

And after decades in the business, Brian says something he never expected to say:

“I’ve never been this excited about parts ever in my life.”