Don’t let iRobot’s technical bent fool you. The company’s main purpose is all about people. “Our goal is to globally deliver world-class service with a local touch,” says Maryellen Abreu, iRobot’s director of global technical support. Doing so required insight into the needs and expectations of the customers who use its self-directed consumer robots, like the Roomba and Scooba vacuums. So, the company launched an enterprise-wide CRM initiative. “Understanding all of our touchpoints in one place was critical to our success,” Abreu says. “It provides a better customer experience, and gives us concrete measurable criteria to measure the impact of changes we implement.”