NEW YORK -

Predictive analytics and marketing automation company automotiveMastermind is re-deploying sales and business development managers to prospect on behalf of dealer partners.

The company said the move demonstrates its support and commitment to dealerships during the COVID-19 crisis.

automotiveMastermind said the virtual business development center program is currently piloting with 215 U.S. stores.

The company announced the following results from the program:

— 339 hours worked on behalf of dealer partners

— 283 sales follow-ups and virtual appointments booked

“Never have we seen the ongoing support from a vendor partner as we are experiencing from automotiveMastermind,” Tysinger Automotive Family vice president Robert E. Rombs Jr. said in a news release.

Rombs continued, “The virtual BDC has proven to be an invaluable asset, as we have booked five additional sales appointments in just the first two sessions. We are confident in our ability to be successful and to emerge stronger than ever as a direct result of our partnership with automotiveMastermind.”

automotiveMastermind said its industry experience and the integrated nature of the company’s Market EyeQ sales platform helped inspire the idea of creating a virtual business development center program.

With Market EyeQ, each of Mastermind’s remote team members have access to the same data-driven customer insights as their dealer partners.

That, according to the company, makes the process of prospecting and handoff “seamless even from afar.”

“We’re a team of passionate auto industry experts, so the decision to create a virtual BDC for our dealer partners during this particular time was a no-brainer,” Mastermind co-founder and chief executive officer Marco Schnabl said in a news release.

Schnabl continued, “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 challenges, we’ve encouraged our dealer partners to pivot their operations, including remote sales and maximizing their BDCs. We practice what we preach, and serving as an extension of our customers’ BDCs is a critical way we can support them.”

Mastermind says it has developed numerous resources in addition to the virtual BDC to support dealerships during COVID-19 disruptions.

Those include Mastermind’s Virtual Resource Center, which features whitepapers, checklists and videos to help dealerships pivot operations and make sales and service adjustments to accommodate for challenges due to COVID-19.

Free webinars from Mastermind’s thought leaders are another resource, including topics such as maximizing the service drive, creating a virtual dealership and how to kickstart auto leads during and after COVID-19 disruptions.

Another resource: Mastermind Gives Back to the CDC Foundation. Mastermind is donating $25 per virtual demo and $100 per deal signed to the CDC Foundation through April 30.

Mastermind is regularly creating new COVID-19 resources for dealerships. The full, free resource library is available at www.automotivemastermind.com/covid19.