Ken Bosley and his team at World Premiere in Mechanicsburg, Pa., no longer have to worry about using the proper terminology when discussing landscape lighting design with their clients or landscape architects.
That’s because the new Coastal Source Design Services virtual walkthrough program not only guides the World Premiere team through the specific design, but provides them with the exact verbiage they can repeat back to their clients as they review the documentation plan for their outdoor lighting.
“It’s the best part of what Coastal Source Design Services provides us,” says Bosley unequivocally.
Live virtual walkthroughs are 3- to 5-minute videos recorded on Loom by the actual designer on the Coastal Source staff , according to Peter Sepesi, director of technical services at Coastal Source.
Live videos are screen recordings that visually show a blueprint of the project while the designer talks through the landscape lighting design elements using an icon to highlight the specific areas being discussed.
For example, on a recent large backyard project dubbed the Bear Residence by World Premiere, the Coastal Source Design Services’ 3-minute, 6-second video describes the pathway lighting locations, the dimensions of the system, and the types of lights being used including beam spread and color temperature when applicable.
It even describes the placement of various accent lights on specific trees, shrubs, stone architecture and several large boulders in the yard.
“By hearing the designer talk through the theory of the design in a video — even down to the details of a particular plant type and why a certain spotlight will be the best way to illuminate it — it is so educational for us. We parrot that information back to the client, so we are the experts. It is really cool. We use it to help close our deals and the virtual walkthroughs usually help us grow the price point.”
That is exactly what happened on the Bear Residence project, which started out as a $20,000 installation, according to Bosley.
A live virtual walk-through piqued the customer’s interest and netted an upsell of an additional 25 to 30 fixtures, mainly Coastal Source FLEX Double Tiered Path Lights, FLEX Niche Landscape Wash Lights, and FLEX Bullet Uplights (MR11 and MR16).
According to Bosley, the project has grown to near $50,000.
Coastal Source started its virtual walkthrough videos in full force in March, according to Sepesi.
A link to the video is placed in a distinct website URL that Coastal Source now creates for every project it designs. at website includes images of the project and reviews the lighting and audio design.
“Some integrators actually show the videos directly to the clients, some watch it together with the client, while others do what World Premiere does,” he notes.
World Premiere even takes it one step further. Bosley requires the installation technician to watch the virtual walkthrough video before starting on the job. Live video, in essence, acts as an installation guide.
The typical turnaround time for Coastal Source Design Services is about 2 weeks. There is no fee for dealers and an incremental fee structure for contractors based on the number of fixtures.
Bosley adds, “We have never not gotten the project after using Coastal Source Design Services. I absolutely would never be able to do this level of design.”
Ideally, the integrator is able to provide the Coastal Source team with blueprints, but Bosley says he has even gotten designs based simply on a Google image of the property or even just a rough drawing on a piece of paper.
