She was competing against some of the biggest newspapers in Australia and New Zealand.

Kerry has worked with the Collie Mail for a year. She was required to speak on Client to Consultant — outlining her successes since she started at the Mail — in front of about 500 Fairfax employees during the conference.

The secret of her success was staying on duty “24/7” and treating her clients with the respect that she would like for herself, she said. “It’s all about the little things.”

After a record-breaking 2008-09 for local advertising, Kerry took over as the sole advertising sales consultant responsible for local real estate, motors and features, as the economy started to contract.

By producing features, introducing new clients and substantially increasing yields across all local categories, Kerry has kept total local display revenues above budget and last year’s figures. “It was great to network with people from other papers and gather an understanding of the company I work for,” she explained.

Kerry has been in Collie for three years, having moved from Margaret River when her husband was offered a job at Worsley Alumina.

Her plans for the future include bringing in special publications and new features in competition with other newspapers.

The two-day sales conference for Fairfax Media employees and management was held at the Sydney Convention Centre on June 26 and 27. Its theme was “convey confidence and deliver value”.

Fairfax Media is an Australiawide and New Zealand owner of newspapers and radio stations, including Perth radio station 96FM and 15 WA newspapers including the Collie Mail.

The conference included guest speakers retelling their own stories of success. One was Darren Flan-agan, who helped free the Beaconsfield miners, and speed skater Steven Bradbury, who famously won gold at the Winter Olympics after the other competitors lucked out just before the finish.