How often do you look back on your life and wish you had done things differently?
Regret is a powerful tool
In order to understand it we must enter the time machine.
- First we decide that our current circumstance sucks and is making us unhappy
- Next we travel to the past to a point in time where we could have made a different decision
- Then we must move forward into the future to a place different than ours where our ideal version of ourselves is living their better life
Regret needs the companionship of two close cousins.
Cousin #1: Comparison
It doesn’t appear until we time travel and compare our current self with what might have been.
A person that’s only focused on how miserable they are now feel experiences:
- Sadness
- Melancholy
- Despair
Not quite what we want
Stepping into the time machine powers it.
Cousin #2: Blame
It must be your own fault, not someone else’s. If what you perceive to be the wrong choice was caused not by what you controll and through the fault of others… regret turns into disappointment.
The person being the cause of their own suffering is key.
It can be used to your advantage when marketing your course.
A survey by the American Regret Project shows that 82% of people tend to engage in time travel.
One way to use the power of regret in sales messages is to highlight the potential negative consequences of not making a purchase.
This can include
- missed opportunities,
- the continued struggle with a problem that the course can solve
- possibility of competitors gaining an advantage
- testimonials from satisfied customers who have regretted not purchasing sooner
- future pacing (getting people to imagine something in their lives that’s possible in the future)
It’s a powerful way to create urgency and motivate potential buyers to take action.
