5 best customer information database software options for your business needs

Customer database software is crucial for storing information about buyers. However, tools aren’t one-size-fits-all.

Businesses have different needs, from driving sales to scheduling appointments to tracking finances. The database software you choose can help you reach your goals.

In this article, we’ll explore five types of customer database software and the best platforms to suit your unique requirements.

What is customer database software?

Customer database software is a broad category of tools designed to manage and organize customer information.

Each type of software serves a unique purpose, from relationship management to client scheduling.

Here are five forms it can take. Understanding each will help you choose the best fit for your specific needs.

1. Customer relationship management software

Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are centralized systems for storing and organizing customer information (including information for current customers and prospective leads).

A CRM allows you to manage all customer data in one place to prevent data silos and help your team to work together more efficiently.

Business owners and salespeople use CRM software to manage interactions with contacts, build relationships and drive sales.

In addition to storing contact information, CRM tools let you organize and visualize sales pipelines. These dashboards allow you to track potential buyers as they move through the stages of the customer journey.

Robust sales CRM software offers the following features:

• Centralized customer information storage

• Automations for emails, follow-ups and reminders

• Lead tracking that shows you where customers are in the sales process

• Integrations with other marketing tools across email and social media

Customizable processes to adapt to your business and team needs

2. Client scheduling software

Unlike software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, service-based businesses may need customer database management tools focused on client scheduling.

For example, a company like a hair salon or spa may want a way to store customer information and manage appointment bookings.

In addition to improving operational efficiency, an easy-to-use booking system can boost customer engagement and make people more likely to return.

Client scheduling software lets team members manage their schedules while also allowing customers to book free slots themselves.

Key features of client scheduling software include:

• A booking system to manage appointments with up-to-date availability

• Calendar and email synchronization (including with Gmail and Outlook calendars)

• Automated email or SMS notifications to reduce no-shows

• Detailed client information and service history

• Secure online payments and deposits during the booking process

• Insights into appointment trends, client behavior and business performance

3. Invoicing software

Customer database software focused on invoicing streamlines the billing process. It usually involves managing transactions and handling customer financial interactions.

Invoicing tools help businesses manage their invoicing processes more efficiently for accurate billing and to encourage timely payments.

These tools are especially valuable for businesses that want a more effective way to store customer financial data.

Key features of invoicing software include:

• Professional, branded invoices with customizable fields and formats

• Automated recurring payments and subscriptions for consistent cash flow

• Detailed contact information, such as billing details, transaction history and communications

• Secure online payments through various methods like credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets (e.g., PayPal)

• One place to analyze invoice statuses, payment histories and financial performance to help you make better data-based decisions

4. Spreadsheet software

If you’re a solo business owner or small company with a handful of clients, you may be able to store customer details with a simple spreadsheet.

Using a spreadsheet tool is a practical approach if you prefer a hands-on method of customer data management.

Spreadsheet tools offer a straightforward, cost-effective solution for managing customer information.

Key features of spreadsheet software include:

• Custom columns to track details like names, email addresses, phone numbers, purchase history and preferences

• Data filtering (e.g., last contact date) to find specific client information or analyze trends

• Basic calculations, such as summing up total sales or calculating average order value

• Data linking within the same spreadsheet or across multiple sheets to track additional details, such as appointment schedules or follow-up tasks

Access for multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet at once so they can share and discuss ideas in real time

5. Data warehouse software

Data warehouses are advanced systems large companies use to handle vast volumes of customer data. Unlike simpler setups, data warehouses manage and analyze extensive datasets.

For example, users can identify trends, behaviors and patterns and extract meaningful insights using “queries”. Queries are structured requests for information using structured query language (SQL).

Data warehouses can also send data to other platforms (such as CRM or ERP systems) to give you a 360-degree view of customer information and business operations.

If you’re a growing business with expanding data needs, warehouses can also scale by adding more capacity or servers.

Data warehouse software should be able to do the following:

• Handle large volumes of customer data efficiently

• Respond quickly to user queries

• Store extensive historical data to make it easier to analyze trends and forecast for the future

• Provide advanced analytics with complex queries (e.g., highlighting customers who have spent more than $1,000 or total sales by geographical region)

Ensure data is secure to protect sensitive customer information

5 best customer and client database tools

There are plenty of options for customer database software, depending on the application and functionalities you want.

Here are five tools for each use case we’ve discussed.

1. Pipedrive: best CRM and sales database software

Pipedrive is an award-winning, customizable CRM that adapts to your sales team’s unique processes.

One of its main advantages as customer database software is that you can input and track all customer interactions within visual pipelines and reports.

Here’s what pipeline management looks like in Pipedrive.

You can set pipelines up to your exact specifications and visualize contacts’ journeys as they move through your sales funnel – from lead generation to becoming customers.

The tool’s intuitive interface means there’s less of a learning curve, so you can get up and running quickly.

For example, you can use drag-and-drop email templates in Pipedrive’s Campaigns to streamline cold email, follow-up or newsletter creation.

Here’s what the drag-and-drop editor looks like within the tool.

You can also use the contact management software to segment customers into targeted groups. Segmenting helps you create more relevant, personalized marketing campaigns and outreach emails.

Pipedrive’s user-friendly CRM includes helpful features like:

• Comprehensive task management to assign leads and customers to specific team members

• Advanced AI CRM and workflow automation (e.g., AI Sales Assistant and AI email writer)

• Project management and marketing automation tools (e.g., with social media messaging and email marketing capabilities)

• A mobile app for iOS and Android for data entry on the go

• Dedicated 24/7 customer support for help whenever you need it

• Over 400 third-party tools and integrations

• A CRM API (application programming interface) for your developers to build public or private apps

What others think of Pipedrive

According to one Capterra reviewer:

Pipedrive pricing

You can try Pipedrive’s complete CRM software free for 14 days before committing to any regular payments.

After that, Pipedrive has several pricing plans for small to large companies. Here’s how they vary when billed annually.

2. Square Appointments: best for scheduling clients

Square Appointments is a versatile client database software for small businesses to larger enterprises. It’s part of a suite of services offered by point-of-sale (POS) provider Square.

The database software is most suitable for those in service industries like health, fitness and beauty who need to book their time.

Here’s what a booking calendar looks like in Square Appointments:

Use the software to collect and store client contact information and appointment history. You can also add notes to record specific details about customer preferences or previous interactions.

For example, a hairstylist might add:

Insights like these can help you tailor services to each client for a more enjoyable customer experience.

Square Appointments allows users to:

• Schedule appointments via desktop or mobile app

• Accept any type of payment within an integrated POS system

• Build customer profiles and add essential details like birthdays and preferences

• Add specific user permissions and allow employees to manage their own time

• Create your own e-commerce website with shoppable landing pages

• Integrate with other Square products and apps like Wix or JotForm

What others think of Square Appointments

According to one GetApp reviewer:

Square Appointments pricing

Square Appointments has three monthly pricing plans: Free (for only one location), Plus ($29 per location monthly) and Premium ($69 per location monthly).

3. Xero: best for billing and invoicing

Xero is cloud-based accounting software built for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Companies use its features to manage invoicing, expense tracking, payroll and more.

It’s primarily a bookkeeping platform but is also suitable for business owners who need customer database software to store financial information.

For example, you can use Xero to create detailed customer profiles and ease the pressure of admin tasks.

You can easily follow up with clients and ensure timely payment by tracking payments and outstanding balances.

Xero’s key features allow you to:

• Track customer and supplier details of sales, invoices and payments

• Plan projects, including budgeting and time-tracking

• Send customized invoices from your desktop or mobile app

• Set up automatic reminders for overdue payments

• View bank balances, invoice bills and more

• Connect to over 21,000 global financial institutions

Xero can give you a comprehensive overview of your customers and business finances at all times.

What others think of Xero

According to one G2 reviewer:

Xero pricing

Xero offers a 30-day free trial and a 70% off deal for six months. After that, plans range from Early ($15 monthly) to Growing ($42 monthly) and Established ($78 monthly).

4. Google Sheets: best for simply storing customer data

If you only have a small number of clients or prefer a more manual approach to customer database management, you can use a spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets.

The cloud-based platform is suitable for storing and managing customer data, tracking interactions and organizing business information.

Let’s say you run a startup marketing agency. You could manually enter customer data into Google Sheets or import it from other files.

You can also create multiple pages for one sheet, adding columns for client details and project status.

Your entire team can work from the same spreadsheet, updating cells as interactions and projects progress because it’s cloud-based.

Google Sheets’ key features allow you to:

• Customize your spreadsheet to prioritize your most important data

• Use an interface many people are familiar with

• Let multiple users edit and view changes instantly

• Access pre-designed templates to use the tool for CRM, invoicing and other purposes

• Integrate with other Google tools like Gmail, Google Drive and Google Forms

You won’t get the advanced features of other customer database software. However, Google Sheets is a popular, no-frills solution.

What others think of Google Sheets

One Capterra reviewer says:

Google Sheets pricing

Google Sheets is free to use.

5. Amazon Redshift: best data warehouse

Amazon Redshift is a huge, cloud-based data warehouse service for businesses that need to handle vast datasets and perform complex queries.

As it’s a “petabyte-scale” warehouse (meaning it offers one million gigabytes of storage space), it can hold an equivalent of 500 billion pages of standard printed text.

Amazon Redshift lets you run detailed and fast searches to find important information and patterns. The insights can help you understand your customers’ buying habits and make better decisions.

Say you own a large online retail store with millions of transactions. Your database stores all these, including customer IDs, product IDs, purchase dates and amounts spent.

You can write an SQL query to learn which products are the most popular among your top 10% of customers by spending.

Here’s a simplified version of what that query could look like.

Pinpointing your top products and customers allows you to devote more resources to promoting best-selling products and rewarding top buyers with special deals to encourage loyalty.

Amazon Redshift allows you to:

• Quickly scale storage as your company grows

• Automate routine tasks like backups, patching and maintenance

• Choose between pay-as-you-go pricing or longer set terms

• Integrate with other AWS services for comprehensive data management and analysis

• Perform complex SQL queries with machine learning capabilities for deeper data insights

What others think of Amazon Redshift

According to one G2 reviewer:

Amazon Redshift pricing

Amazon Redshift offers a flexible pricing model that depends on location, usage patterns and business needs.

Committing to one or three-year terms significantly discounts costs compared to on-demand pricing.

What to look for in your customer or client database software

When selecting customer database software tools, choose one that aligns with your business needs, team processes and budget.

Once you know which of the five types you need, look for software that effectively manages customer information, speeds up repetitive business processes and enhances decision-making.

Your chosen customer database software should include the following features:

• An intuitive user experience. A user-friendly interface helps your team quickly adapt and use the software efficiently with less training time.

• Automated workflows. Automating repetitive tasks (e.g., follow-ups and data entry) can free up your team’s time to focus on activities that require human interaction.

• Reporting capabilities. Robust, real-time reporting features allow you to track key metrics and analyze customer data more deeply with graphs and visuals.

• Seamless integration with your favorite tools. Integrating your software with other third-party tools you regularly use can give you more power in fewer dashboards.

• Data privacy compliance. Software should adhere to data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) to safeguard customer information and maintain trust.

To make your decision easier, you can often experiment with free versions or trials of products before signing up for paid plans.

Customer database software FAQs

Final thoughts

Different types of customer database software help you achieve different goals, such as enhanced relationship management, streamlined scheduling, simplified invoicing or comprehensive data storage.

By identifying your objectives, you can determine the type of software that best suits your requirements.

If you find that’s a CRM platform, consider trying Pipedrive’s intuitive, customizable software free CRM for 14 days to experience its powerful features firsthand.