To answer your questions:

1) About 15 minutes, start to finish.

2) As many as it takes to get BBS..! Dont think about "I must get BBS in one pass", its more about beard reduction with each pass until you get the BBS result. My neck is also a tough area and it took me a while to work out the right stretching and pass direction to get a BBS shave.

3) It is, but each persons shave will be different. How I got there was mapping which way my beard grows, stretching the skin to make the hairs stand up and then working out the right pass to attack those hairs for a BBS result. You'll need to do this too for your beard and this is how you'll get a BBS shave.

I also learnt how to make good lather, how to prepare my face for the shave (pre shave prep) and good stropping technique. All of these things will also make a difference.

4) Rather like learning to play an instrument, there is no magic formula or special product or technique that will make your shaves better. It really is a case of learning to make good lather, making sure your stropping is good, learning which way your beard grows, working out the right skin stretching for your beard, learning which passes and the directions that work for you and combining all of that with a shave ready razor.

In terms of passes, for me I found that going XTG on my cheeks gets me a great result right off the bat so now I dont do WTG passes on my cheeks. I also learnt that I cant do an ATG pass as it irritates my skin. But that said, these techniques may not work for everyone, so people need to develop their own shave style.

I also find the scything strokes and toe leading strokes work well on my neck, just due to the growth direction, so you might try those to see if they work for you.

Good luck and keep us posted!