The inital phase is understanding the current situation, what's in place, what are the pain points, what's been tried before. After this initial scoping, a cross-division Needs Analysis is conducted to ensure any output fulfills the needs of the whole business. Recommendations are tailored to specific requirements, based on market knowledge, and next steps clearly articulated in an actionable format.
As you can probably tell by this question, we're very straight up, ethical, and work only in your best interests. We work on a 'simpler is better' philosophy in all of our work and don't recommend products because they're a buzzword. This is why we work in 'phases', each independant from the other, simplicity is frequently the solution.
We're happy to put our money where our mouth is and back our strategy to be revenue neutral within the shortest period of time. Hybrid models are fine, as we only take on work where we believe we can have quick impact.