Alison Conway: Scaling Client Relationships & Agency Trust

In this episode of Coordinates Unknown, we sit down with Alison Conway, Chief Client Officer at RedTag, to discuss why the best account managers refuse to be order-takers and what it actually takes to build a client-agency relationship on trust. Alison’s own path here was anything but planned—she set out to become an Art Director, took an entry-level account coordinator job in Cincinnati as a way into the industry, and never left the client side once she got a taste of it.

In this episode, Alison breaks down why she pushes her team to act as the “primary source of truth” — not just the client’s main point of contact, but the person who holds the full context of a project and makes sure everyone internally, from strategists to production, is working off the same picture. She walks through RedTag’s Pathfinder workshop, an immersive four-hour session that often surfaces disconnects a client’s own leadership team didn’t realize they had, and why she’d rather her team pitch something “too far” and get told “not yet” than play it safe from day one.

For business owners and marketing leaders sizing up a new agency, Alison lays out exactly what to ask: how the internal team actually collaborates day to day (a silo between account managers and production is a red flag), who your dedicated point of contact will be, and how well their communication style matches what you actually need from the relationship.

In this episode, we explore:

The Accidental Career Path: How a job Alison took as a stepping stone to Art Direction turned into her actual calling. The Primary Source of Truth: Why sharing the full client story internally — not just the assigned task — produces better work. Inside the Pathfinder: How a four-hour workshop surfaces misalignment within a client’s own leadership team. The Case for Overshooting: Why a bold, “off-the-wall” creative pitch builds more trust than a conservative one. Agency Red Flags: The specific questions marketing executives should ask before signing with a new agency. What Makes a Great Account Manager: Why patience and big-picture thinking matter more than order-taking.

The “Coordinates” (Timestamps)

00:00:28 — Defining the Chief Client Officer role and the “primary source of truth” idea 00:01:35 — Why account managers need the full brand story, not just their piece of it 00:03:40 — The Art Director job Alison never got — and the Cincinnati account services job she did 00:05:52 — Undercover consumer research inside sitcom-screening focus groups 00:07:55 — Joining RedTag in 2023 and building Account Services from scratch 00:10:05 — Inside the Pathfinder: setting the foundation for a new client relationship 00:16:32 — Pitching bold ideas — and why “overshooting” builds trust 00:24:00 — Case study: building “approachable luxury” for an artisan brand 00:33:53 — Questions to ask an agency: spotting silos and unclear communication 00:39:18 — What Alison looks for in an account manager 00:43:35 — How growing client-side marketing teams are changing agency work

Follow RedTag: https://www.redtag.digital/

Subscribe to Coordinates Unknown:

Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

Evaluating a new agency partner? RedTag’s Pathfinder workshop is where we start every client relationship — reach out to see how it clears the fog around your brand.