656: Julie Comfort – Design a Client Experience People Can’t Stop Talking About

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Julie Comfort of www.theexperientialwedding.com is a wedding photographer turned experience designer.

If, like me, you're asking yourself what an experience designer is… I read it’s someone to help you design a client journey that turns every interaction (from inquiry to delivery) into a memorable, relationship-building touchpoint.

It should be applicable to photographers of all genres and translate directly to helping you:

• Differentiate in a saturated market, beyond your portfolio.
• Increased Referrals + Repeat Business by creating repeatable “wow” moments for your clients
• Map out your client's journey
• And create a higher perceived value.

This all sounds fantastic, and being totally new to me, I was curious to learn more.

In this interview, Julie shares how to intentionally design your clients' experience at every stage of working with you — from the very first enquiry through to long after delivery — so you’re not just delivering photos; you’re creating experiences people remember, talk about, and come back for.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• How photographing 300+ weddings revealed the real reason most weddings feel the same
• Why moving to Berlin and rebuilding from zero forced Julie to rethink how clients experience photography
• How studying Experience Design at Chaos Pilots shifted her focus from capturing emotion to intentionally creating it
• Why burnout can be the catalyst for smarter, more sustainable creative direction
• How the pandemic became the turning point that reshaped her wedding business
• Why guest experience — not décor — is what truly defines a memorable wedding
• How designing feelings (not timelines) elevates reviews, referrals and brand positioning
• Why the planning process itself is an overlooked opportunity to differentiate your business
• How wedding size directly impacts emotional connection — and how photographers can guide that conversation
• Why Experience Design applies just as powerfully to family and portrait photographers
• How mapping your client journey reveals hidden friction that costs bookings
• Why your first email can win (or lose) the job before you ever get on a call
• How authenticity in communication beats polished AI content every time
• Why follow-up emails often win bookings when couples are overwhelmed with choice
• How to use questionnaires and conversations to uncover emotional drivers that influence buying decisions
• Why small, thoughtful gestures outperform expensive gifts
• How making clients feel genuinely seen leads to five-star reviews and long-term loyalty
• Where automation helps — and where it quietly damages connection
• Why intentional experience design supports premium pricing without relying on volume

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews.

When people are overwhelmed with choice, the one who follows up often wins. – Julie Comfort

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all.

Before you add wow, remove friction. – Julie Comfort

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and help you build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours—to build a more successful photography business.

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Julie shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

People want to feel seen. So if you can make someone feel seen, something really, really powerful you can give them is to pay attention. – Julie Comfort

If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Julie, or a way to thank her for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

I flipped my creative process from hoping something lands emotionally to starting with the emotion and designing backwards from there. – Julie Comfort

I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show.

Personalisation and personalising the experience is another really important factor. Everybody wants to automate everything. And I think, yeah, there's definitely some parts of this that you can automate, but you're really going to get the most impact if you're tailoring the experience to each client. – Julie Comfort

If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google. You can leave some honest feedback and a rating, which will help me and the show. I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them.

Being real, having typos in your in your post, will probably give you away as a human. And I think that's what people want. They want a human. – Julie Comfort

Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​

The Experiential Wedding Website

Julie Comfort Website

The Experiential Wedding on Instagram

The Experiential Wedding on Facebook

Designed for Connection on Substack

Custom Photo Projection Flashlight with Personalized Text on Etsy

Custom ViewMaster, Personalized ViewFinder Reel on Etsy

How can I express myself more authentically on this platform? …If you want to connect to people, we should all be trying to express ourselves a little more authentically. Don't have AI write your captions. – Julie Comfort

Huge thanks to Julie for coming on and sharing everything she did!

There’s something powerful about hearing from someone who’s stepped back, rethought the way things are usually done, and rebuilt her business around intention — nothing just for the sake of it. Just clarity about how she wants people to feel at every stage of working with her.

I’d love to know what stood out for you in this interview… and whether it’s got you rethinking any part of your own client journey.

I would treat all of them like they are going to either be lifelong customers. …if you wow them on the first time, they're going to keep coming back every year. And that's what you want. – Julie Comfort

That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

Thanks for listening—speak soon,
Andrew

The post 656: Julie Comfort – Design a Client Experience People Can’t Stop Talking About appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.