Customer management software
Do you use OS X? Do you know of a software package designed for managing software licensing and customer data? I've considered FileMaker, but it's probably excessive for what I need (and a little on the pricey side too), but thus far I haven't found much else. I just need a central resource to store names, emails, purchase dates, notes, links, etc., and be able to export the data in a variety of commonly-accepted formats. If anyone has a tip, please drop me a line.
Update - 10pm
Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in suggestions. I heard from a number of people, and the range of products was greater than expected. So with that, a run-down of what's out there.
Transaction by Maxprog | Of all the tips I received, this one may be closest to what I'm looking for. You can import comma-delimited customer information, track sales, expenses, print reports and charts, and export your data back out again for other uses. And it stores everything in a SQL db. I gave the demo a run-through, and it seems a little buggy in spots, but looks like an app with a lot of potential.
Daylite by Marketcircle | This was recommended to me the most. I'd messed around with Daylite a while back, but hadn't taken another look at it in a while. It appears to be very powerful, with lots and lots of options (which is a plus or minus, depending on your outlook), but ironically their demo never worked for me. It crashed when attempting to connect to the example database (after hanging for 5 minutes), and then on relaunch failed again. So I never actually tried it, but on specs alone it looks good, though a little pricey, and borderline overkill.
Crm4Mac by Ibizzi | A very interesting product that works with your existing data in Address Book, iCal, and Mail and presents it all in a single Entourage-like interface. Calendar events are mixed with your emails and broken out by days. You can also create appointments using your contacts, and it is synced with iCal. It's a brilliant idea that has lots of potential, especially because it all works with the .Mac syncing services so you can run multiple copies of Crm4Mac and keep them all up to date without a standalone, proprietary database.
iBiz by IGG Software | I own a copy of iBiz, and while it can be a little buggy at times, and the user interface takes a bit of getting used to, it's an excellent solution for quickly creating invoices and tracking projects. It's more of a project/client/invoicing product than a software tracking app, but it's still worth looking into.
Studiometry by Oranged.net Software | Pretty much all of the same features of iBiz.
StickyBrain 3 by Chronos | I've demoed StickyBrain in the past, and it's a very slick app without a doubt. It's like a huge scrapbook where you can write notes, append photos and other graphics, assign them to projects and clients, and a whole lot more. You can almost do so many things with it, it's hard to nail down exactly what StickyBrain is best suited for. For software tracking, it's probably not the right product, but damn is it pretty.
Notebook by Circus Ponies | Another scrapbook / journal-style of product for keeping all your text. Very odd interface.
VoodooPad by Flying Meat | A 'digital junk drawer' for your notes, web addresses, to-do lists, and even sketches which you can cross-link in wiki fashion. I would have loved this when I was in school, but not exactly what I'm after.
Hog Bay Notebook by Hog Bay Software | Yes, another text editor, but Hog Bay Notebook is unique -- it sports a very clean, unfussy interface, allows you to organize multiple folders of documents, and even has an inline-search field to search what you've written. Would be a great product for writing a book or other documents, but not what I'm after right now.
StudioBoss by Dennis Best | Remember my gripes about iBiz earlier? StudioBoss' interface is very clear, easy to work with, can interface with iCal and Address Book, prints invoices and reports using Word, and a whole lot more. A very attractive product if you're looking for a freelance / small design studio management app.
...web apps...
...and then, the stuff right under your nose...
Excel - "why not just use a spreadsheet?"
Address Book - This was actually my first thought, and why not? It's simple, syncs, ties in with everything else...what's not to love? Well, the clunky interface (seriously Apple, couldn't you have put a little more time into Address Book for Tiger?), and the serious lack of exporting capabilities. But wait a second, what's this? Address Book Exporter is a free app that exports Address Books as comma-delimited files. Yes, Address Book is that lame that it doesn't support this obvious feature natively. But with this utility, which is new to me, it might actually be a decent (and free) solution.
So did I find what I was looking for? Like a lot of the emails I received, the answer is...partially. Some products have the features I want, but are expensive and way too involved. Others are basically just text editors and are underpowered. In the end, the product that interests me the most at this point is Transaction because of its simplicity. And who knows...the Address Book isn't out yet.
