What are the main and most requested functions of CRM systems?

Question

CRM

Hello!
Perhaps these questions will seem silly to you, but for me it is really important:
1. I would like to know what functions are most in demand in modern CRM systems.
2. Where does the data come from in CRM (everything is entered manually, or the data can be parsed from somewhere)?
3. Is there a kind of accounting built into CRM, i.e. expense, income (not only income from contracts concluded with clients)?
4. Are CRMs popular, in which the user interface is not on the site, but in a separate application?
It is important to get this information from someone who has experience with CRM. I read articles about them, on Wikipedia too, I'm interested in user experience.

Answer 1

I answer as a representative of the CRM-system
developer 1. If you plan to develop for a specific customer, then conduct business process analytics, write and agree on the TOR and go ahead. There can be any scenario here: a warehouse, and a receivable, and a document flow, and...
2. if we are talking about a mass product, then determine the target audience, communicate with representatives of this audience, understand what they need. Here also from and to.
If the users are advanced, then they don't care if this solution is web or desktop.
Everyone understands CRM as he needs. There is no universal solution. But, there are basic things - a database of companies and contacts, scheduling calls, meetings, etc., accounting for transactions. If there are not many transactions in the company, then manual data entry is used, if there are many transactions, then integration with external databases is carried out, more often with 1C.