Customer DB software
Discussion
Morning all,
I wasn't sure whether to put this in computers or business but thought business would be better. So i'm asking on behalf of my dad on this one but i hopefully should be able to answer any questions.
He's a self employed plumber who has a customer DB which is currently all stored on Microsoft Access which is starting to become a problem. He's used a windows machine which allows access on it but in the last 2 years bought a MAC and loves it but access isn't compatible with MAC and his current windows computer is starting to die and slow so wants to look at something he can have on his MAC.
I was just hoping someone has use of something similar that just holds the following information and not much else.
Customer name
address
tell number
email address
additional address (if a tennant)
Appliance (e.g. combi boiler)
Installation date
month it's due a service
date of service / test
Make & model or appliance
Notes section
As you can see it's pretty basic stuff that he wants to store and i was hoping to store it on the cloud to also help with some of the GDPR issues.
Has anyone seen anything similar to this?
Thanks
I wasn't sure whether to put this in computers or business but thought business would be better. So i'm asking on behalf of my dad on this one but i hopefully should be able to answer any questions.
He's a self employed plumber who has a customer DB which is currently all stored on Microsoft Access which is starting to become a problem. He's used a windows machine which allows access on it but in the last 2 years bought a MAC and loves it but access isn't compatible with MAC and his current windows computer is starting to die and slow so wants to look at something he can have on his MAC.
I was just hoping someone has use of something similar that just holds the following information and not much else.
Customer name
address
tell number
email address
additional address (if a tennant)
Appliance (e.g. combi boiler)
Installation date
month it's due a service
date of service / test
Make & model or appliance
Notes section
As you can see it's pretty basic stuff that he wants to store and i was hoping to store it on the cloud to also help with some of the GDPR issues.
Has anyone seen anything similar to this?
Thanks
AJB88 said:
Couldn't he just use a simple Google Docs "excel" sheet with number of columns that could be stored on Google drive and accessible from anywhere.
Thought about that but he wouldn't be happy with it as he needs to search for a customer and just see that customer's details and not have to do it via filtering on excel. He'd rather pay for something. richatnort said:
AJB88 said:
Couldn't he just use a simple Google Docs "excel" sheet with number of columns that could be stored on Google drive and accessible from anywhere.
Thought about that but he wouldn't be happy with it as he needs to search for a customer and just see that customer's details and not have to do it via filtering on excel. He'd rather pay for something. MRichards99 said:
Could you then not create multiple tables on Google Sheets (one table per sheet maybe?). This is what Microsoft Access does (it's a relational database). So have one table storing customer details and link what's stored in there the table storing details about each job. This means you only need to enter a customer's details once and then reuse the ID number or name of that person in each job.
That was what I was thinking. Have data stored on a hidden tab. write a simple GUI to go over the top so it looks like a programme. AJB88 said:
MRichards99 said:
Could you then not create multiple tables on Google Sheets (one table per sheet maybe?). This is what Microsoft Access does (it's a relational database). So have one table storing customer details and link what's stored in there the table storing details about each job. This means you only need to enter a customer's details once and then reuse the ID number or name of that person in each job.
That was what I was thinking. Have data stored on a hidden tab. write a simple GUI to go over the top so it looks like a programme. 
You could easily put something together with Zoho Creator to do this. You can import an Access DB into Zoho,
Some slightly odd suggestions so far I feel! Using a spreadsheet to act like a database is like stepping back to 1990's! Running parallels just for a rickety access database that's already causing problems is equally bad.
I suggest you look at a basic and *simple* CRM system - web based so can access from phone when out on a job. Lots of CRM threads on here and there's probably something out there already tailored towards the plumbing industry.
I suggest you look at a basic and *simple* CRM system - web based so can access from phone when out on a job. Lots of CRM threads on here and there's probably something out there already tailored towards the plumbing industry.
48k said:
Bikerjon said:
Some slightly odd suggestions so far I feel!
Recommending the plumber knocks something up in Python is an absolute gem!
but installing Parallels is probably the best idea in this scenario, especially as you can just use the existing Access files (just carry on from where you left off). Excel can actually be really powerful if you understand relational databases, though I can see how much time it would take to do it and I'm not sure how you'd do an SQL type of query with it.
MRichards99 said:
48k said:
Bikerjon said:
Some slightly odd suggestions so far I feel!
Recommending the plumber knocks something up in Python is an absolute gem!
but installing Parallels is probably the best idea in this scenario, especially as you can just use the existing Access files (just carry on from where you left off). Excel can actually be really powerful if you understand relational databases, though I can see how much time it would take to do it and I'm not sure how you'd do an SQL type of query with it.
A lot of businesses seem to use it for everything, regardless of whether it's the most appropriate tool for their scenario or not.If the Access database is on its arse as the OP suggests, building a new solution based on using the existing Access database doesn't strike me as a great idea TBH. Although that said, even though Access is a baby in database terms, I can't believe that a plumber's contact management system is going to have anywhere near the amount of data to give Access any performance issues.
48k said:
Excel has a lot to answer for. A lot of businesses seem to use it for everything, regardless of whether it's the most appropriate tool for their scenario or not.
If the Access database is on its arse as the OP suggests, building a new solution based on using the existing Access database doesn't strike me as a great idea TBH. Although that said, even though Access is a baby in database terms, I can't believe that a plumber's contact management system is going to have anywhere near the amount of data to give Access any performance issues.
Agreed, my expectation is that the Access DB was not properly designed, just cobbled together as and when. A lot of businesses seem to use it for everything, regardless of whether it's the most appropriate tool for their scenario or not.If the Access database is on its arse as the OP suggests, building a new solution based on using the existing Access database doesn't strike me as a great idea TBH. Although that said, even though Access is a baby in database terms, I can't believe that a plumber's contact management system is going to have anywhere near the amount of data to give Access any performance issues.
A simple CRM system should do whatever is wanted.
KevinCamaroSS said:
Agreed, my expectation is that the Access DB was not properly designed, just cobbled together as and when.
Even the worst cobbled together Access database is not going to struggle with the volume of data (I am guessing is) involved. My money is on the laptop performance itself gradually degrading due to memory / disk fragmentation / swapping / bloatware / antivirus / eleventy billion unnecessary services running etc.Take a look at HubSpot (Free version) - that should do it. A lot of the free CRM's are good, but very restricted in the fields that you can add (they want you to pay for that level of flexibility), and you need to check their privacy policies for what they do with the data. However Hubspot will allow you to create the fields you are looking for (they are more interested in selling their marketing, but they do not push it hard (so the free version is very good)). They have published some fair material on GDPR, so you can understand their position. You should also be able to import your data (though I have not tried this).
PM me if you have any specific questions.
PM me if you have any specific questions.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff