How to get your customer list into a spreadsheet

Most garages have years of customer details sitting somewhere. In the garage management software, in old invoices, in a diary or a card index on the shelf behind the counter.

That list is worth a lot. It's every customer who's already trusted you with their car. But it's not much use if it's stuck somewhere you can't easily work with it.

Getting it into a spreadsheet is usually the first step to doing anything useful with it, whether that's sending reminders, spotting who you haven't seen for a while, or just knowing how many regular customers you actually have.

What you need in the spreadsheet

Keep it simple. For reminders, you only really need these columns:

• Customer name
• Mobile number
• Email address (a mobile or an email is enough, both is better)
• Registration
• Make and model (handy, but not essential)
• Date of last MOT
• Date of last service

Here's roughly what a few rows look like:

Don't worry if some rows are missing an email or a service date. Something is better than nothing, and you can fill in the gaps as customers come back in.

If you use garage management software

Most garage software can export your customers, either as a spreadsheet or as a CSV file (a plain spreadsheet file that almost any program can open).

The option is usually tucked away under a name like Reports, Export, Customers or Data. Look for anything that mentions a customer list, vehicle list or CSV.

A few tips:

• Export customers and vehicles together if you can. Some systems keep them separate, which means you'll have to match them up afterwards.
• Look for a "last MOT date" or "last visit" column. If there isn't one, an export of past invoices or jobs often has the dates you need.
• Export more than you need. It's easier to delete columns you don't want than to go back and export again.
• If you can't find it, ask your software provider. It's your data, and most will tell you how to export it, or do it for you.

If customers and vehicles come out separately

This catches a lot of people out. You might get one file of customers (name, phone, email) and another of vehicles (reg, make, MOT date), with a customer number or account number linking the two.

The simplest fix is to open both, sort each one by that customer number, and copy the vehicle columns across next to the right customer. If you're comfortable with spreadsheets, a VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP will do it in seconds. If not, sorting both lists the same way and copying in batches works fine, it just takes a bit longer.

If a customer has more than one car, give each car its own row and repeat the customer's details on each one.

If your records are on paper

It's more work, but it's worth doing, and you don't have to do it all at once.

Start with the customers who are due soonest. Go through the last 10 or 11 months of invoices or diary entries, because those are the people whose MOTs are coming up next. Add them to the spreadsheet first, then work backwards when you've got a quiet half hour.

Typing them in as each car comes back into the workshop also works. Within a year you'll have most of your regulars.

If you've got someone on the front desk with a bit of time between customers, this is a good job for them. Twenty minutes a day soon adds up.

Tidying it up

Before you use the list, it's worth a quick tidy:

• Remove duplicates. The same customer often appears more than once with slightly different spellings. Sorting by mobile number or registration makes them easy to spot.
• Check mobile numbers. UK mobiles start with 07 or +447. Landlines won't receive texts, so move those to a separate column or leave them out.
• Use the same date format throughout. Mixed formats like 03/04/25 and 2025-04-03 cause confusion. Pick one and stick to it.
• Write registrations the same way. With or without the space doesn't matter much, but be consistent.
• Take out anyone who's asked not to be contacted. Respect that from the start.
• Remove cars you know have gone. Scrapped, sold, or the customer's moved away. There's no point reminding them.

Saving it as a CSV

Most systems that import customer lists want a CSV file. In Excel, go to File, then Save As, and choose CSV (Comma delimited) from the list of file types. In Google Sheets it's File, then Download, then Comma-separated values.

Keep your original spreadsheet too. A CSV only saves the first sheet and loses any formatting, so it's best treated as a copy for importing rather than your main file.

Keep it safe

A customer list is personal information, so treat it with a bit of care. Don't leave copies on a shared computer or email it around unnecessarily, and delete old exports you no longer need. If you want to check what's expected of you, the ICO has straightforward guidance for small businesses.

Using it with Garage Reminders

If you're trying Garage Reminders, you can upload the CSV straight in. The app tells you exactly which column headings it expects, and you can download your customers again as a spreadsheet at any time, so your list never gets stuck anywhere.

Once it's in, everyone on the list gets a reminder from your garage when their MOT or service comes round. If you're not sure when to send them, our guide on when to send MOT and service reminders covers the timing and wording.

If you get stuck getting your list out of your current system, send us an email and we'll do our best to help.