About CANA Construction

CANA Construction is a prominent general contractor with seven decades of experience and a commitment to long-term relationships with clients, local architects, subcontractors, and suppliers.

As a part of that commitment to relationships, CANA sought to enhance its business development efforts by gaining early insights into upcoming projects and developments. Before using Mercator AI, CANA relied on conventional methods of networking, conversations, and manual research to stay informed about potential opportunities in the industry. 

In this case study, we explore how James Please, Director of Project Development at CANA Construction, uses Mercator AI to enhance his approach to business development. 

‍

The challenge

Getting ahead of opportunities early 

As the Director of Project Development, James Please aims to build a pipeline of early-stage opportunities to put CANA in a better position to win work. 

To achieve this, James leveraged his existing network and various sources for researching early signals like real estate listings, land use designations, development permits, and building permits. While James was productive in identifying projects, he often found that the time spent qualifying projects still resulted in opportunities that were too far along. The information he needed to find projects early was scattered across multiple sources, and it was a time-consuming process to navigate all of the different systems. 

"Without Mercator, my background knowledge wouldn't have existed. I would have had to try to understand what was going on in that area. It would have just been a long, dragged-out process of me wondering what's happening on these vacant lots."

James Please, Director of Project Development

‍

The solution

Expanding visibility on potential pursuits 

James was first introduced to Mercator by a mutual connection. Mercator is a market intelligence platform that collects and analyzes millions of data points from public and private sources, synthesizes them into early opportunities, and surfaces tailored leads and insights to users. For James, he saw Mercator as an opportunity to expand his visibility into potential pursuits, and find opportunities earlier on. 

Explore and uncover projects in a map environment

James uses the Project Map as a time-saving way to conduct preliminary research and identify new opportunities more efficiently than traditional methods. He can search quickly by address or apply filters to surface results based on his query. James is an expert in using the project map in Mercator and frequently refers to the parcel polygons and satellite imagery to obtain a better understanding of what's happening on a particular piece of land. 

Additionally, he utilizes the map to visually identify potential new opportunities near projects CANA is aware of or involved in. Using the map, James keeps himself informed about development in Calgary and tracks areas that are showing signals of higher activity.

"I went to pin a project we were involved in. While I was in that area of the map, I wanted to know about the surrounding blocks and what was being proposed there. From that, I found another project two plots away that involved an architect that we do a lot of work with. I reached out to them about it, and now they want to have discussions with us."

James Please, Director of Project Development‍

Centralized project insights

To access important details about projects, James utilizes the project detail pages. These pages contain vital information such as recent activity, zoning, permitting, real estate listings, descriptions, and companies involved. James often checks the companies involved to quickly assess a project or see if there are any pre-existing connections to reach out to. The activity feed summarizes the latest happenings, but James can also view the full timeline for more in-depth information. 

Additionally, project-related documents such as applications and exterior drawings are readily available on the project detail pages. James finds it useful to view a project's history of permits to determine the number of rejections that occurred in the past for the same plot of land, as well as recently approved or received ones.

"If you go into a conversation with someone and that is their main project, and you understand where they are at in the process and you're able to reference things like their development permit, they appreciate it. It makes them realize we're putting a lot of effort in."

James Please, Director of Project Development

‍

Automate project discovery with customized saved searches

When James first implemented Mercator, the Mercator team created a set of custom groups to automate the heavy lifting of research. These custom groups automatically notify James via email when there are new projects matching the defined criteria.

These emails are customizable to send daily or weekly updates according to their preference and provide James with a brief overview of project details, such as size, industry, location, companies involved, and description. These email notifications allow James to review possible projects that meet his requirements without needing to access Mercator.

Improved awareness into market and project intelligence

Since implementing Mercator, James has experienced improved the efficiency of his processes, lead generation, and networking. By gaining early insights, refining data collection, and improving networking, James and the CANA team can position themselves strategically in the industry, ensuring they stay ahead of the competition and make well-informed decisions. As the City of Calgary continues to grow and expand, James sees Mercator as a valuable tool to gain awareness of new players and maintain a pulse on activity in the market.