Years ago, customer information was kept on rolodex cards or ledger sheets. Today the web-based equivalent is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. They're still about as exciting and visually appealing as a rolodex card, but just as invaluable. For instance, in our business, all our customers contact information is in our CRM, as well as their website information: who the domain registrar is, what add-ons their site uses, which software licenses they've paid for, etc. This enables any of our team members to gain access to this critical information wherever they are.
In the PC-centric days of the 1990s, the big names in CRM were ACT and Goldmine. Today most CRMs are web-based, and Salesforce is one of the best-known names. There are good open-source options too. Whatever you choose, look for a useful standard set of client fields and the ability to add custom fields your business needs.
Takeaway question: how does your business handle your customer information? Is it time to look at updating it? If so, we'd be glad to talk with you about it.