How Do You Reward Resident Loyalty?

Late last year, Starbucks rolled out a fancy new card, it's Gold Card, for $25 dollars. Not only can you whip this fancy little card out and impress all of your friends, but you also get 10% off most purchases, along with a few other small benefits. This Gold Card was also supposed to be an upgrade above the standard registered card, which is free and gives you free refills and a free syrup for drip coffee. So since it costs $25 and is supposed to be an upgrade over the FREE card, it's supposed to actually be better, right? Wait, not so fast. It turns out that people who shell out the cash for the fancy Gold Card don't get the standard benefits of the FREE card, which means that for drip coffee lovers, you get a WORSE deal with the Gold Card than you do for the free registered card! And they had to pay $25 to get that horrible deal!
 

Now granted, all of this was in the fine print of the card, but would the average person even consider they wouldn't get the original discount? I sure didn't (even though technically, I got it as a gift). So when they pull out the card for the first time, buyer's remorse smacks them across the face as they realize this sad little fact.
 

And who are the people most likely to get the Gold Card? Their most loyal customers, of course. Maybe Starbucks didn't do it intentionally, but they just got their loyal drip-drinkers to pay for something that is essentially worthless. Is that how you repay your customers loyalty?
 

But this is an apartment-centered website, so what the heck does coffee have to do with apartments?? Well, we should be asking ourselves how we are showing our appreciation to our most loyal residents. Let's run down the list.
 

Our most loyal residents:

• Pay more than newer residents (i.e., no more concessions)
• Pay a LOT more than new residents (i.e., rent raises every year, where I've often seen attempts to get more than a new resident would spend on the same floor plan, concession aside.)
• Get less customer service than new residents (Who do you see more, the person who just moved in or the person who has lived there for three years?)
• Get an "older" apartment (It's been a lot longer since their last make-ready compared to a new resident)

(I guarantee that someone will say that we shouldn't give concessions, which is true, but as of right now it's not reality, and our residents deal in reality.)
 

And we give our loyal residents these "benefits" when they are actually more profitable than new residents because they don't cause any turnover expense. Does it really make sense to give your most loyal and profitable residents the worse possible deal?