Companies now operate in an environment in which the consumer is more powerful than ever, and this manual for change demonstrates how managers and entrepreneurs can make this new-found consumer power work for them. Proposing to close the gap between what customers want and what companies promise, this argues that impersonal environments must change to foster interaction and that consumers must be allowed deeper insight into the process by which companies create goods and services for them. Why limit involvement to new product testing, the book asks, when the target demographic could be on the invite list for the next board meeting? Other tools, methods, and inspirations for listening to and understanding the customer are included, as well as examples of how other companies have managed to take advantage of the consumer revolution by using marketing innovations that once seemed radical. Forward-thinking executives and managers can benefit from this unique perspective on a key issue for companies who have not yet tapped the well of consumer power.