I have used a few different programs for keeping track of customer data and have ended up giving up on all of them. In the past year I decided to start using Microsoft Access because is was already on my computer (and even if it wasn’t it is relatively cheap to buy with no monthly cost). As far as entering data it is very simple and has a ton of templates to choose from and includes the ability to add pictures to any job so that you can remember what they looked like. The BEST part is that I went online and got an App for my phone ($10) that allowed me to drag and drop my entire customer database onto my phone (thousands of entries), taking up almost no memory. This has allowed me to look up customer info and former jobs on the move in less than a minute and has worked perfect Every Time! I have not printed out reports on Access but I am told that you can do this, as well as mailing labels for customers to send them reminders. Highly reccomended.
I have been using Access and Excel together for many years. They give me total access to all customer data. I haven’t found anything better for the money. I learned many years ago to keep things as simple and cost effective as possible. The are other systems out there like Quicken and Customer Factor that are excellent products, but I have already paid for Access and Excel, so why not use them?
I tried access years ago for my piano service business. didnt work for me. I found that Chaos Intellect has worked great and is cheap. It will sync to my phone via companion link software. works great for both my piano service and my window cleaning business. seems like a far business stretch but i like to clean windows and i already know how to tune pianos. Works for me.
The Customer Factor does things that are well worth the extra dollars. Calendar views, income forecasts, sales tax reports, email blasts, cloud access, label printing, accounts receivable, etc.
Yes but then you are stuck with the subscription forever. I don’t like that.
I have to agree that the monthly charge is what scares me off from using Customer Factor. I am sure that the cost is justified to most people by the benefit that it provides to them, but not to me. I once had a very rich man tell me that “it is not the large purchases so much, but the monthly recurring fees that keep many people poor”. CF is great for the things that it does though, and if you are happy with it then that is what matters.
For me it pays for itself every month in the fact that customers no longer fall through the cracks and i end up forgetting to call them. That and the time savings of not entering data into a calendar, a database and into quicken. The integration of them through TCF saves huge time. If it saves me a half hour a month it’s paid for.
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Quickbooks and Google Calendar is all I need!
Customer factor is well worth the money. Im generally cheap about
business spending but I’ve made more back using the features than I pay. Take it from someone who obsessed over this for years. It’s not perfect, but my cash flow is noticeably better this year because of cf and between google apps and cf things are running quite smoothly. Nothing is perfect.
