Aug 12, 2026 · 45 min · 10 segments
John Gallagher returns to the Almost Creative Podcast to discuss what truly separates memorable creatives from everyone else: storytelling. Together, we explore why asking better questions leads to…
John GallagherGuestTravisHost
Yeah, I mean, the reputation of your business is the currency of the economy.
So if you have a fantastic reputation, that's going to continue to lead great strides in better clients and better people that you're working with over time.
But if you have a bad reputation, it's going to sting you in the butt later on.
So when we look at all the popular brands as well, and popular brands that we kind of use on a daily basis, like our iPhone, for example, or just even our cars, there's a story behind them.
And we buy in not to necessarily the features of what that technology provides to us, but we really buy into the story of what it means to us as a person.
And so because I can connect to it, then, you know, it makes me feel a certain way.
There's a certain emotional, you know, feeling invoked in that emotion from that story that that, you know, company serious just like with apple
you know what i mean yeah yeah that's so true um someone gave me this analogy one time when i was trying to get better at sales and asking questions and they basically painted a picture of like a bike shop and you have two different types of bike shops the one bike shop you know this older gentleman comes in and they're just trying to sell him on features he's like oh i'm looking for a bike and they're not really asking questions they're just like well how about this bike this bike is a 21 speed how about this bike this bike has a comfortable seat and they're just trying to offer him different like Features of the bikes and they're not really finding out why he's at the bike shop Whereas the other bike shop as soon as the guy comes in there don't even show him bikes yet.
They're asking him questions Oh, why are you in the market for a bike and then he starts to open up? He's like well, you know, I have grandkids now and I want to do something with them and like oh, okay like so are you looking to kind of match their speed or like are they gonna be riding their own bikes are they riding on your bike and then they start kind of asking questions and almost being like a doctor in the situation of like oh what is your problem and can we solve that problem with one of our bikes whereas the other guy is just like oh okay i just want to sell you this bike or i'll sell you this bike and they're not really like finding out what's wrong with them and i think that translates over into what we do where you know i feel like many videographers or photographers or other business owners really when I've talked to them and they say like they're they're not booking after a call I you know like if I ask them how many how often they're talking they're like all the time you know whether they know it or not they're they're the ones doing all the talking and they're not really listening to the person whereas like we really need to listen because they have a story that they're trying to tell, but they maybe can't get it out.
So we're trying to listen and then ask more questions.
I think even, you know, I've had some, especially like with couples, like when it comes to weddings, I've had some like really tough cookies where like, they just don't want to crack.
It's like, why? Oh, like, what are you most excited about your wedding? Oh, well, you know, the ceremony or whatever, you know, like they don't have a lot to say.
And so then I'll try to dig deeper.
I'm like, well, you said ceremony.
Like, why did you say the ceremony? And then it still might be surface level.
They're like, well, you know, my parents got married there and I'm like, oh, that's something.
Tell me more about that.
Like, when did your parents get married? And now they start kind of lighting up a little bit more because they're starting to talk about something that they connect with, you know, and then you start finding out that the church is actually extremely important to her because of that.
But if you were to kind of just stop with that first question of like, what are you most excited about? She said ceremony and you moved on.
Now you've missed like this crucial part of their story and what's important to them.
Yeah, I mean, the reputation of your business is the currency of the economy.
So if you have a fantastic reputation, that's going to continue to lead great strides in better clients and better people that you're working with over time.
But if you have a bad reputation, it's going to sting you in the butt later on.
So when we look at all the popular brands as well, and popular brands that we kind of use on a daily basis, like our iPhone, for example, or just even our cars, there's a story behind them.
And we buy in not to necessarily the features of what that technology provides to us, but we really buy into the story of what it means to us as a person.
And so because I can connect to it, then, you know, it makes me feel a certain way.
There's a certain emotional, you know, feeling invoked in that emotion from that story that that, you know, company serious just like with apple
you know what i mean yeah yeah that's so true um someone gave me this analogy one time when i was trying to get better at sales and asking questions and they basically painted a picture of like a bike shop and you have two different types of bike shops the one bike shop you know this older gentleman comes in and they're just trying to sell him on features he's like oh i'm looking for a bike and they're not really asking questions they're just like well how about this bike this bike is a 21 speed how about this bike this bike has a comfortable seat and they're just trying to offer him different like Features of the bikes and they're not really finding out why he's at the bike shop Whereas the other bike shop as soon as the guy comes in there don't even show him bikes yet.
They're asking him questions Oh, why are you in the market for a bike and then he starts to open up? He's like well, you know, I have grandkids now and I want to do something with them and like oh, okay like so are you looking to kind of match their speed or like are they gonna be riding their own bikes are they riding on your bike and then they start kind of asking questions and almost being like a doctor in the situation of like oh what is your problem and can we solve that problem with one of our bikes whereas the other guy is just like oh okay i just want to sell you this bike or i'll sell you this bike and they're not really like finding out what's wrong with them and i think that translates over into what we do where you know i feel like many videographers or photographers or other business owners really when I've talked to them and they say like they're they're not booking after a call I you know like if I ask them how many how often they're talking they're like all the time you know whether they know it or not they're they're the ones doing all the talking and they're not really listening to the person whereas like we really need to listen because they have a story that they're trying to tell, but they maybe can't get it out.
So we're trying to listen and then ask more questions.
I think even, you know, I've had some, especially like with couples, like when it comes to weddings, I've had some like really tough cookies where like, they just don't want to crack.
It's like, why? Oh, like, what are you most excited about your wedding? Oh, well, you know, the ceremony or whatever, you know, like they don't have a lot to say.
And so then I'll try to dig deeper.
I'm like, well, you said ceremony.
Like, why did you say the ceremony? And then it still might be surface level.
They're like, well, you know, my parents got married there and I'm like, oh, that's something.
Tell me more about that.
Like, when did your parents get married? And now they start kind of lighting up a little bit more because they're starting to talk about something that they connect with, you know, and then you start finding out that the church is actually extremely important to her because of that.
But if you were to kind of just stop with that first question of like, what are you most excited about? She said ceremony and you moved on.
Now you've missed like this crucial part of their story and what's important to them.
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