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Michael Schofield
Head of Group Smart Stores at Woolworths Group
Professional Background
Michael Schofield is a highly accomplished strategic leader with over three decades of extensive experience in operational, technical, and franchising roles across major multinational companies in both global and national contexts. Throughout his illustrious career, he has developed a profound expertise in building effective strategies, assembling high-performing teams, and establishing valuable partnerships with vendors. His focus on delivering innovative and cost-effective solutions has positioned numerous organizations competitively in their respective markets, ensuring sustained growth and profitability.
Michael's professional journey is marked by his ability to effectively drive business strategies that open new channels of growth and significantly enhance market share. His exemplary leadership qualities and strategic foresight have vastly improved implementation and service delivery processes, achieving reductions in costs by up to 75%. Colleagues and peers alike recognize him as an inspiring leader and coach who fosters confidence among employees, enabling them to maximize their contributions towards the organization's objectives.
His approach to forging enduring business relationships is based on stringent adherence to requirements and a commitment to being a trusted advisor. Michael's exemplary service and solutions exceed expectations, further solidifying his status in the industry as a reliable and effective partner.
Education and Achievements
Michael's educational background includes a Master’s Degree from the University of Newcastle, where he honed his skills in leadership and advanced business strategies. He also undertook an Executive Development Course at the prestigious Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) that focused on Strategy, Finance, Marketing, and Business Analysis—complementing his already robust knowledge base and strategic outlook.
His professional achievements reflect his diverse skill set, particularly in managing complex projects, negotiating high-stakes multi-million dollar agreements, and delivering superior financial returns even in challenging market environments. He has consistently demonstrated his ability to network effectively, forging alliances with key stakeholders and customers, which has been critical to his success.
Michael possesses a unique talent for inspiring others, influencing actions and perspectives to drive change and enhance organizational performance. His commitment to understanding the evolving needs and preferences of both external and internal customers ensures that his strategies remain relevant and effective.
Notable Positions Held
Michael has held several prominent positions at renowned organizations, each reflecting his exceptional skills in leadership and management:
- Head of Group Smart Stores at Woolworths Group: In this role, Michael led initiatives aimed at revolutionizing retail experiences through smart technology and customer-centric strategies.
- Formerly Head of Delivery - eCommerce & Smart Stores at Woolworths Group: He was responsible for driving eCommerce innovations and integrating smart store solutions to enhance the customer experience.
- Formerly Group Program Manager - Smart Stores at Woolworths Group: Michael played a critical role in managing the development and implementation of smart store initiatives that optimized operations.
- Formerly Chief Information & Digital Officer at Craveable Brands: He brought transformative IT solutions to the food industry, aligning technology with business goals to ensure consistent growth.
- Formerly IT Business Partner at Woolworths Group: In this capacity, he ensured that technology strategies were closely aligned with corporate objectives, fostering efficiency and innovation.
- Formerly Director of IT Services, Project Services & Restaurant Solutions (Australia, NZ & Pacific Islands) at McDonald's: Michael oversaw significant technology projects that supported McDonald's operational excellence in multiple regions, enhancing customer service and operational efficiency.
Achievements
Michael Schofield's notable achievements are a testament to his ability to drive results and foster innovation in all his roles. Some of these include:
- Significantly reduced operational costs by up to 75% through strategic implementation of effective service delivery models that prioritize efficiency and innovation.
- Increased market share for the organizations he has been involved with by crafting and executing business strategies that resonate with evolving customer needs.
- Championed employee engagement initiatives that foster a high-performance culture, resulting in increased productivity and morale across teams.
- Spearheaded multiple complex projects that were completed on time and under budget, showcasing his competency in project management and execution under tight deadlines.
- Influential in negotiating multi-million dollar agreements with major suppliers, ensuring favorable terms that benefit the organization while building long-lasting partnerships.
- Recognized for his excellence in delivering superior financial returns during tough market conditions, maintaining a resilient and growth-oriented operational model.
In every role he embodies a commitment to excellence, inspiring those around him to achieve their best while fostering a remarkable team spirit. Michael Schofield's career trajectory, rich with diverse experiences and substantial achievements, paints the picture of a seasoned leader equipped to navigate the complexities of modern business landscapes with confidence and grace.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
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