Oscar

JAMES CROLL Application for the position of Strategic Partnership Manager Interview Questions & Answers

JAMES CROLL .. inspiring parterships and driving growth Can you tell us a little bit about you and why you applied for the position?

About me ….

Originally from the UK, I’m a “people person” and a lover of life. I have travelled the world, nearly died 5 times in the process, and completed two bucket lists.

The past three decades meanwhile has seen me focus extensively on Partnerships & Business Development across numerous industry sectors including Finance, Tourism, Recreation, Sports & Leisure, NFP’s and Charities, and the Energy sector. I have a reputation for dramatically enhancing industry partnerships and taking the organisations I have worked for to a whole new level.

My personal network of C-Suite individuals, business owners & decision-makers is second to none. I would argue that I am among the most connected individuals in Sydney. I would certainly claim to be the best and most effective cold caller in Sydney. I am curious, fun, caring, creative, love ideas, and have an inspiring and infectious enthusiasm to take on the most left-field of challenges. People are drawn to me, trust me and have faith in me.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy Group, Kenya .. 2017. Sudan - Last male Northern White Rhino

Why I applied ….

Apart from a lifelong love of the industry I loved the Job Specification, in particular the emphasis on AFTRS embracing ideas, taking up challenges and having the courage to do so. I also sensed there was a potential need in particular to increase industry partnerships across the corporate and commercial sectors. An area I would certainly make inroads into pretty dam quick.

Most of all, I am at a stage of my life where I want to make an impact with a major organisation such as AFTRS, to the extant that I leave a significant legacy in the years to come.

Leading the Camino Way Group, Spain .. 2018

African Stars Orphange Group .. 2017

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How do you define a Business Partnership?

I see the best Business Partnerships as those where both parties share a mutual interest or interests and complement each other’s offering.

A partnership where they can collaborate, share ideas, implement, and drive initiatives together, add value to each other’s existing services, increase each other’s reach, and ultimately increase revenue streams for both parties.

How would you approach this role in the first 30 days?

First and foremost, I would work towards developing, agreeing, and implementing a Project Plan with clear objectives. This is likely to cover two areas: New Partners and Existing Partners.

I would speak to colleagues, get their views, explore the relationships we had with existing properties and how they might be optimised. I would also speak with existing partners and seek their input as to how we might drive the relationship forward together.

I might even seek opinion’s internally as to whether it made sense to host a “forum” with existing partners where all could collaborate and share ideas.

I would talk to “Partners” outside of the industry who had built successful financially rewarding partnerships and see if their practices would work with AFTRS’s Partners.

I would thoroughly research the CRM system and see how the Partnership prospecting, sales and relationships processes might be improved. This might involve drawing up a shortlist of immediate prospects across our existing film-related industry network and most certainly prospects in the corporate and commercial sectors.

PROJECT PLAN

I would seek ideas from a diverse number of people I admire who think out of the box … be it Pip Harrison at Tourism Australia, the wonderful Kik Kelloway at HLB Mann Judd, David Giles filmmaker and storyteller, Guy Cooper at the Wayside Chapel, Neil Gaiman and Malcolm Turnbull.

I would grasp a full understanding of budgets, objectives and KPI’s and draft an initial Business/Project Plan, inclusive of targets. I would then aim to get this agreed and signed off by Julia and Con before scheduling an internal launch to ensure everyone’s awareness and obtain everyone’s buy-in.

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Tell us about your network of relationships / industries and how you would use these to benefit this role?

My network comprises an extensive range of C-Suite, business owners, Board Members, and decision-makers across the following: Industries …  Entertainment, Sports, Leisure & Arts  Government  Banking & Finance  Tourism  Energy – Petrol & Mining  Not For Profit & Charities This has been generated by my work with …  HLB Mann Judd Chartered Accountants & Corporate Advisory  Anacacia Private Equity Partnerships  Terri Irwin’s Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors  PwC  Aon  Hamilton Island Enterprises  Australasian Leisure Media  The Australasian Petrol & Convenience Association  The Sane Event Group Having obtained an understanding and having developed and finalised the AFTRS Partnership offering with Julia and Con, I would prioritise and engage my network to start discussions as to how we could best work together to achieve mutually agreed goals.

That said, I would engage several key people within my network whose input would potentially shape and determine the AFTRS Partnership offering.

Considerations would include a potential “New Partners Event” once planning had been agreed.

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Please describe a situation where you have used your strong negotiation, influencing and engagement skills to overcome conflict and build influential relationships with diverse stakeholders to achieve required outcomes For several years, I was International Events & Head of Travel at Forte Hotels. Our portfolio of 43 international luxury hotels included such renowned properties as The George V, Paris, Plaza Athenee in New York, Hotel Eden in Rome, and Forte Grand Dubai.

I was brought into the organisation to launch an exclusive travel club for our 170,000 Gold Card Loyalty Scheme members to drive revenue into hotels during low periods and in so doing add value to Gold Card membership.

There were two immediate conflicts of interests. Hotel Sales Directors were wary that they would upset relations with existing travel companies (British Airways Holidays, Kuoni etc.) as they would be deemed to be supporting an internal travel company and providing them with better rates.

By dealing personally with Directors and Hotel Owners (including Sheikhs and Russian Gangsters) I was able to devise a strategy where I assured them that we would only be providing exclusive scheduled group departures to what was effectively a “private closed user group” which would have no relevance to the rates provided to their Tour Operators.

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Give us an example of a time when you have tailored a product / partnership to meet the client need and what was the outcome?

During my time as Membership and Events Manager at AACS (The Australian Association of Petrol & Convenience Stores) I was charged with arranging an International Study Tour to the UK. The group included the CEO’s and CFOs of organisations including Caltex, 7Eleven, BP and all the other key players in the sector.

The proposed trip itinerary came under fire with several individuals arguing that it had to include several “must haves” which weren’t of interest across the whole group. I resolved the issue by splitting the group in the middle of the tour into 3 separate mini groups which then followed the itinerary of relevance to their aspect of the industry. The tour concluded with a panel discussion at dinner where we shared ideas and outcomes obtained by each individual group.

Please provide an example where you have built strong internal stakeholder relationships where there was no relationship previously. Give us an example where you have built strong, lasting and ongoing external relationships where they have been highly profitable.

Internal – HLB Mann Judd - HLB Mann Judd is Australia’s award-winning mid-tier Accounting and Business Advisory firm and has been voted Best Accounting Firm in Australia every year for the past 6 years. There are 18 Partners specialising in all disciplines from Audit, Tax, Corporate Advisory, Insolvency etc. Prior to my arrival there was a lot of politics in the firm with each Partner operating within their own silo.

The firm had brought me on board to primarily acquire new Family Business and SME business clients for the firm. I developed, launched, and marketed the Family Business Evolution Program which involved all Partners presenting to a group of Family and SME prospects advising them on everything from business structure to exit strategies and asset protection.

The initiative brought the entire firm together and secured a substantial number of new clients for the firm.

External – Lakeview Private Hospital Also of note are the Partnerships I developed at Lakeview Private Hospital. I was charged with driving business for the 120 Surgeons at the hospital. I obtained CPD accreditation for the Hospital and trained to be an accredited CPD educator myself. I then launched a calendar of CPD accredited training days for GP’s and marketed the events across the entire Greater Sydney area and beyond.

Generally, 8 surgeons would present on the day and the events showcased each surgeon spectacularly as each event was filled with 80 GP’s. The events also provided a wonderful platform to showcase the excellent hospital facilities.

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Tell us about the Partnership you are most proud of – how did you approach the client / build the offering / what were the benefits to the client to the organisation you worked for?

Australasian Leisure Management is the only dedicated News Media company servicing Australasia’s Leisure, Recreation, Sports, Arts and Activity sector. Established in 2001, we keep the industry informed of all relevant news via our bi-monthly magazine (12,000 subscribers), news website (100,000 visitors a month – visit: www.ausleisure.com.au), and weekly e-news (distribution: 16,000).

Over the years I have secured Partnerships with several the industry’s leading associations, including Venues Management Australia, Australian Swimming Association, and AALARA (The Attractions & Theme Parks Association).

I secured agreements with each Association that we would be recognised and distributed as their official member publication. The process involved me presenting projected costings and a strategy that proved to be far more advantageous that them launching, printing, and distributing their own magazines.

The agreements have massively increased our circulation and subscription revenue. Just as important, the increased distribution has had a massive impact on our advertising revenue as we are literally the only means – for instance – for aquatic suppliers to reach a commercial audience.

Kibbutz Ginnegar, the Holocaust survivors, and the Egg Cleaning Project - I had been tempted to tell the story of the Partnership I set up when I was a volunteer at my kibbutz in Israel.

I brought the stubborn Kibbutz committee and the older community in the Kibbutz together, many of them Holocaust survivors, and launched a wonderful initiative which saw me set up and launch an egg cleaning and packaging factory line to manage the eggs produced by the 12,000 chickens in the Kibbutz’s massive chicken houses.

The kibbutz egg output improved dramatically. More importantly, the older community finally felt wonderfully valued and empowered. It remains one of my proudest achievements to this day.

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