VANCOUVER, B.C. -

To better support dealerships operating through the COVID-19 pandemic, finance and insurance provider LGM Financial Services reopened its online learning platform, My Distinction Learning.

LGM aims for the courses to help dealers overcome challenges as a result of social distancing measures.

The courses, available to all automotive professionals regardless of their affinity to LGM, include “The Financial Services Office (FSO) in a Virtual World,” which LGM created as a direct response to the pandemic.

That course aims to help dealership workers optimize their F&I business and build better relationships with clients in what LGM described as an increasingly digital world.

FSO in a Virtual World is one of various on-demand learning programs LGM offers through its Learning Management System that it launched in 2019.

LGM has received more than 5,500 course completions since March 2019.

Social distancing guidelines are changing daily and are having an impact how dealers do business, said LGM vice president of dealer training, Nathalie Abdallah. She said that when the pandemic ends, that will change how businesses operate permanently.

“Getting ahead of what that looks like is smart business, and there has never been a more important time to get ahead,” Abdallah said in a news release. LGM said that thinking sparked the Financial Services Office in a Virtual World course.

Abdallah said that because self-paced learning has increased in popularity, LGM launched its online learning platform years ago.

“With our platform already in place and operating effectively when the pandemic hit, we were quickly able to adapt and shift our focus to providing the best service possible to our partners,” Abdallah said. “We immediately started developing and delivering content that kept pace with emerging issues.”

LGM president and chief executive officer Drew Collier said LGM seeks to provide innovations to give its customers a competitive edge and improve the consumer experience.

Collier said, “It’s a tough time for all, so if we can help dealerships level-up their sales skills and improve customer satisfaction, then we have done our job.”