A customer list is a list of the clients your business has, as well as useful information about them. It’s also called a customer database.
A customer list includes the names and contact information of your customers. Having one makes it easier to keep track of clients, follow up on deals and overdue invoices, and build good customer relationships.
To make the most of your customer list it should be in a CRM tool, not on pen and paper
Customer lists can be exported and imported from various softwares, such as accounting software and invoicing software, usually using a CSV file.
What’s on the list?
There are many different industries that use customer lists. The content of the lists varies from industry to industry, but in addition to name and contact information, the list can include information about paid and pending invoices, ongoing projects, quotes and offers that you’ve sent them and so on.
An accounting firm will have a list of all their customers with contact information, in addition to having access to their accounting. A carpenter will have phone numbers and names of all customers, perhaps an email address, as well as information about ongoing projects.
What can I use the list for?
The list can be used for several things, such as:
- Keeping track of all your customers
- Improving your sales and onboarding process
- Identifying your top customers
- Store your customer data in one place, without relying on employee memory, handwritten lists, or individual laptops.
Which businesses don’t need a customer list?
You don’t need a customer list if you run a physical store, for example a clothing store. You might have an email list, with the emails of customers who’ve signed up to receive newsletters or who have become members of your loyalty program.
Apart from that, you only need receipts or other documentation of all your transactions, not a list of all your customers.