Match Offers To Customers' Top Regrets
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That hospice slide about the “Top Five Regrets of the Dying” is brutal… and incredibly useful for marketers. Your customers secretly fear ending up with those same regrets, and they buy to avoid them. When you line your offers up with these five regrets, your copy stops sounding like a sales pitch and starts sounding like a life preserver.
The Psychology Behind It
The slide shows regrets that surface only when people run out of time. Your prospect still has time, but they feel the same tension: authenticity vs expectations, freedom vs grind, connection vs isolation. Thread these tensions directly into your headlines and bullets. You’re not selling a product; you’re selling a chance to dodge a future deathbed “I wish I had…”
Turn Each Regret Into A Buying Trigger
- “Live true to myself” → Position your product as the vehicle for authenticity, not conformity (career pivots, creative tools, coaching).
- “I hadn’t worked so hard” → Sell time freedom and leverage, not just income (automation, SaaS, outsourcing).
- “Courage to express my feelings” → Highlight communication, confidence, and self-advocacy outcomes (courses, communities).
- “Stayed in touch with friends” → Emphasize connection, belonging, and shared experiences (events, group programs, social apps).
- “Let myself be happier” → Frame your offer as a permission slip to enjoy life now, not “someday” (travel, hobbies, wellness).
Real-World Offers Built On Regret-Avoidance
Basecamp sells project software as a way to work less chaotically so you don’t miss your kids growing up.
Noom sells weight-loss coaching as a mindset shift so you can finally feel proud of how you treat your body.
Creative Variations
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