FAIRLAWN, Ohio — Continental is restarting its engines in the Canadian aftermarket by introducing the Elite Rewards Program Member (RPM) Club with improved features for professional repair technicians and distributor counterpersons.

Continental has taken the same basic premise as the U.S. program, but has added the distributor counterperson component. In both programs, the Club offers rewards for redemption of proofs-of-purchase for Continental Elite products.

“We will continue using the Club to engage professional repair technicians and distributor counterpersons who use our product,” said Dave Wenger, marketing manager for Continental’s North American automotive aftermarket products. “Through our new social media channels, and even in the structure of the Club itself, it will be easy for our members to be in direct contact with us. We hope to further engage the membership as part of the Continental community.”

In keeping with Continental core values to offer “more and better” to its members, the new Club comes with a cloud-based application that allows virtually all Club functions to be accessed via smart phone. Members can use it to track their points, redeem points and choose rewards, and interact with the Club.

Wenger says this dialog with the membership who use Elite branded products is important to the company.

“We value their opinions; they’re the core of our business. They also are our link to the consumer. We want to know what’s on their minds,”

In the coming months, exclusive training will be made available. Members also will be periodically surveyed to offer their thoughts on industry trends.