Which job are you buying for: finding projects, deciding which to chase, or tracking pursuits and relationships?

Why it matters: Dodge One and ConstructConnect are project databases with AI search added. Shovels sells permit, contractor and land-use decision data. Mercator.ai tracks early private-project signals for business developers. Building Radar is an AI sales platform for companies that sell products into projects. FollowUp CRM, ProjectMark, TrebleHook and TopBuilder are CRMs that hold your pipeline once a lead exists. Tip: Write down which of the three jobs the pilot must improve, and who owns the result: BD, estimating or sales.

Where does the project data come from, and who checks it?

Why it matters: Dodge says projects are verified by its research team and cites 400+ specialists and 7,000+ updates a day. Shovels says it gathers records directly from 2,820+ jurisdictions and AI-classifies permits. Mercator.ai lists land title changes, hearings, rezonings, site plan applications, permits and occupancy. Building Radar says Jeane combines lead providers, news feeds and public sources. Hubexo's Construction Monitor sells residential, solar and pool permit data. All figures are vendor claims. Tip: Pick five projects you bid last year and ask the vendor to show each record, its source and the date it first appeared.

Does it cover your market, sector and project size?

Why it matters: Mercator.ai lists live coverage in Texas, Florida and Indiana; Shovels says its permit coverage spans jurisdictions covering roughly 85% of the U.S. population; ConstructConnect prices leads per market; Building Radar cites data from 50+ countries; Hubexo's BidOcean focuses on underground construction and pipe rehabilitation bidding. Tip: List your counties, sectors (public, private, heavy civil) and size range, and ask for coverage counts in exactly that slice.

How early is early, and how often does an early signal become a job you can bid?

Why it matters: Mercator.ai claims 3-24 months ahead of the market (land title changes 1-10 years out, rezonings 12-18 months); Shovels says land-use decisions can be public up to 18 months before a permit; Dodge says it tracks projects from the first planning permit. None of the pages we read publishes how many early signals turn into biddable or negotiated work. Tip: Ask for the share of early-stage records in your market from two years ago that went to construction, and how the vendor counted it.

What does the AI actually do: search, score, summarize or write?

Why it matters: Dodge's AI Search Assist turns a plain-language request into editable filters (its page says both "Now live" and free when it launches in late 2026). ConstructConnect lists Ask Docs (LLM document search) on its Professional plan. Shovels's Charlie answers questions and shows the SQL behind each answer. Mercator.ai offers Ask Scout and an MCP connection. Building Radar's Jeane scores projects, summarizes tenders and drafts outreach. TrebleHook's plans page describes AI fit scoring and go/no-go recommendations. FollowUp CRM's Voice AI is labeled beta; ProjectMark lists voice AI note taking and contact enrichment. Tip: Ask to see the reasoning behind one AI score or recommendation on a project you know well, and who reviews AI-drafted emails before they go out.

What are the accuracy, win-rate and ROI figures based on?

Why it matters: Building Radar cites 94% AI match accuracy, a 310% increased win rate and 80% less manual work. Mercator.ai cites 2-3 new projects won per year and 5 minutes to research a pursuit. ProjectMark shows customer-reported survey results on adoption and pipeline visibility. These are vendor claims; none of the pages we read gives the method, sample or baseline. Tip: Ask how each figure was measured, on how many customers, and against what baseline, then compare it with your own hit rate.

Will it push leads into your CRM and won jobs into your ERP?

Why it matters: Mercator.ai lists HubSpot, Salesforce, Unanet CRM, ProjectMark, Pipedrive and Zoho plus CSV and PDF export. FollowUp CRM says won jobs go into Sage, Foundation or Viewpoint. ProjectMark lists Vista, Procore, BuildingConnected and Adobe InDesign as paid add-ons, a public API and MCP Connect. TrebleHook runs on Salesforce and lists Procore, Egnyte and OpenAsset. TopBuilder lists Procore, Spectrum, Sage, Acumatica, BuildingConnected, STACK and B2W. Tip: Ask for a live push of one lead into your CRM and one won job into your ERP or Procore, and check which fields arrive.

How is it priced: per seat, per market, by coverage, per record, or as a service?

Why it matters: ConstructConnect lists $129 per month per market, per seat (Starter) and from $199 (Professional, annual); Mercator.ai lists Single Metro from $24,000 a year and Whole State from $40,000 with unlimited team members; Shovels charges by credits (one record each) with a free tier, $599 and $999 plans; FollowUp CRM lists $99 and $149 per user per month on an annual commitment (5-user minimum) plus a one-time launch fee; ProjectMark and TrebleHook describe user-based plans without figures; Building Radar sells three service models by quote; Dodge One, Hubexo and TopBuilder do not publish prices. Tip: Price the same scenario with every vendor: your markets, your number of users, one year, and any onboarding or integration add-ons.

Who owns the contacts and pipeline data, and how is outreach kept compliant?

Why it matters: Building Radar and ProjectMark describe contact enrichment (ProjectMark through enrichment credits); Shovels sells contractor and resident contact data; Building Radar's Fully Managed model has its own team do cold outreach. ProjectMark and Shovels say they are SOC 2 Type II certified. Tip: Ask where enriched contacts come from, whether you keep them after cancelling, who handles email opt-outs, and whether your pipeline data trains any model.

Home / Guides / Questions to ask before a project-leads, lead-intelligence or construction CRM AI pilot

Questions to ask before a project-leads, lead-intelligence or construction CRM AI pilot

A checklist for a first conversation with a project-leads, lead-intelligence or construction CRM vendor. These are our suggestions, drawn from our bid management category, our bid-finding and proposals roundups and compares. They are not findings: Means & Methods Lab has not tested any tool. Where a question mentions a vendor, it points to something that vendor publishes on its own pages (read Oct 15-17, 2026).

SUGGESTIONS, NOT FINDINGS. No tool has been tested by Means & Methods Lab. Vendor facts are desk research from vendor websites and are not verified. Updated 2026-10-17.

The questions (9)

Q01Which job are you buying for: finding projects, deciding which to chase, or tracking pursuits and relationships?
WHY IT MATTERS · Dodge One and ConstructConnect are project databases with AI search added. Shovels sells permit, contractor and land-use decision data. Mercator.ai tracks early private-project signals for business developers. Building Radar is an AI sales platform for companies that sell products into projects. FollowUp CRM, ProjectMark, TrebleHook and TopBuilder are CRMs that hold your pipeline once a lead exists.
WHAT TO ASK · Write down which of the three jobs the pilot must improve, and who owns the result: BD, estimating or sales.
Q02Where does the project data come from, and who checks it?
WHY IT MATTERS · Dodge says projects are verified by its research team and cites 400+ specialists and 7,000+ updates a day. Shovels says it gathers records directly from 2,820+ jurisdictions and AI-classifies permits. Mercator.ai lists land title changes, hearings, rezonings, site plan applications, permits and occupancy. Building Radar says Jeane combines lead providers, news feeds and public sources. Hubexo's Construction Monitor sells residential, solar and pool permit data. All figures are vendor claims.
WHAT TO ASK · Pick five projects you bid last year and ask the vendor to show each record, its source and the date it first appeared.
Q03Does it cover your market, sector and project size?
WHY IT MATTERS · Mercator.ai lists live coverage in Texas, Florida and Indiana; Shovels says its permit coverage spans jurisdictions covering roughly 85% of the U.S. population; ConstructConnect prices leads per market; Building Radar cites data from 50+ countries; Hubexo's BidOcean focuses on underground construction and pipe rehabilitation bidding.
WHAT TO ASK · List your counties, sectors (public, private, heavy civil) and size range, and ask for coverage counts in exactly that slice.
Q04How early is early, and how often does an early signal become a job you can bid?
WHY IT MATTERS · Mercator.ai claims 3-24 months ahead of the market (land title changes 1-10 years out, rezonings 12-18 months); Shovels says land-use decisions can be public up to 18 months before a permit; Dodge says it tracks projects from the first planning permit. None of the pages we read publishes how many early signals turn into biddable or negotiated work.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask for the share of early-stage records in your market from two years ago that went to construction, and how the vendor counted it.
Q05What does the AI actually do: search, score, summarize or write?
WHY IT MATTERS · Dodge's AI Search Assist turns a plain-language request into editable filters (its page says both "Now live" and free when it launches in late 2026). ConstructConnect lists Ask Docs (LLM document search) on its Professional plan. Shovels's Charlie answers questions and shows the SQL behind each answer. Mercator.ai offers Ask Scout and an MCP connection. Building Radar's Jeane scores projects, summarizes tenders and drafts outreach. TrebleHook's plans page describes AI fit scoring and go/no-go recommendations. FollowUp CRM's Voice AI is labeled beta; ProjectMark lists voice AI note taking and contact enrichment.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask to see the reasoning behind one AI score or recommendation on a project you know well, and who reviews AI-drafted emails before they go out.
Q06What are the accuracy, win-rate and ROI figures based on?
WHY IT MATTERS · Building Radar cites 94% AI match accuracy, a 310% increased win rate and 80% less manual work. Mercator.ai cites 2-3 new projects won per year and 5 minutes to research a pursuit. ProjectMark shows customer-reported survey results on adoption and pipeline visibility. These are vendor claims; none of the pages we read gives the method, sample or baseline.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask how each figure was measured, on how many customers, and against what baseline, then compare it with your own hit rate.
Q07Will it push leads into your CRM and won jobs into your ERP?
WHY IT MATTERS · Mercator.ai lists HubSpot, Salesforce, Unanet CRM, ProjectMark, Pipedrive and Zoho plus CSV and PDF export. FollowUp CRM says won jobs go into Sage, Foundation or Viewpoint. ProjectMark lists Vista, Procore, BuildingConnected and Adobe InDesign as paid add-ons, a public API and MCP Connect. TrebleHook runs on Salesforce and lists Procore, Egnyte and OpenAsset. TopBuilder lists Procore, Spectrum, Sage, Acumatica, BuildingConnected, STACK and B2W.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask for a live push of one lead into your CRM and one won job into your ERP or Procore, and check which fields arrive.
Q08How is it priced: per seat, per market, by coverage, per record, or as a service?
WHY IT MATTERS · ConstructConnect lists $129 per month per market, per seat (Starter) and from $199 (Professional, annual); Mercator.ai lists Single Metro from $24,000 a year and Whole State from $40,000 with unlimited team members; Shovels charges by credits (one record each) with a free tier, $599 and $999 plans; FollowUp CRM lists $99 and $149 per user per month on an annual commitment (5-user minimum) plus a one-time launch fee; ProjectMark and TrebleHook describe user-based plans without figures; Building Radar sells three service models by quote; Dodge One, Hubexo and TopBuilder do not publish prices.
WHAT TO ASK · Price the same scenario with every vendor: your markets, your number of users, one year, and any onboarding or integration add-ons.
Q09Who owns the contacts and pipeline data, and how is outreach kept compliant?
WHY IT MATTERS · Building Radar and ProjectMark describe contact enrichment (ProjectMark through enrichment credits); Shovels sells contractor and resident contact data; Building Radar's Fully Managed model has its own team do cold outreach. ProjectMark and Shovels say they are SOC 2 Type II certified.
WHAT TO ASK · Ask where enriched contacts come from, whether you keep them after cancelling, who handles email opt-outs, and whether your pipeline data trains any model.

Bring to the demo

Your last 12 months of bids or pursuits, with won/lost and where each lead first came from.
A list of target counties or metros, sectors and project size range.
Names of your CRM, ERP and project-management systems, and a sample pipeline export.
How many people would use the tool (BD, estimating, sales) and who signs off on purchases.
One recent go/no-go decision with the reasons, to compare against any AI score.

Sources

Dodge Construction Network https://www.construction.com
Dodge One: AI Search Assist https://www.construction.com/ai-search-assist/
ConstructConnect pricing https://www.constructconnect.com/pricing
Shovels: Charlie AI agent https://www.shovels.ai/features/charlie
Shovels pricing https://www.shovels.ai/pricing
Mercator.ai https://www.mercator.ai/
Building Radar https://buildingradar.com
Building Radar pricing https://buildingradar.com/pricing
Hubexo North America https://na.hubexo.com/
FollowUp CRM pricing https://www.followupcrm.com/pricing
ProjectMark https://www.projectmark.com/
ProjectMark plans https://www.projectmark.com/plans
TrebleHook plans https://treblehook.com/plans/
TopBuilder https://www.topbuildersolutions.com/

Tools mentioned (alphabetical, not ranked)

Building Radar · AI project leads for construction sales
ConstructConnect · Project leads, takeoff & bidding
Dodge One (Dodge Construction Network) · Project leads & market data
Followup CRM · Construction CRM
Hubexo (North America) · Construction leads, bidding & specs
Mercator.ai · Private project lead intelligence
ProjectMark · Construction CRM
Shovels · Building permit & contractor data
TopBuilder · Business development / CRM
TrebleHook · AEC CRM on Salesforce

Side-by-side comparisons

Means & Methods Lab has no commercial relationship with any vendor on this page. Rankings and placement are never for sale. See how we make money.