You create great selling campaigns, but you don't sell them

Tom Monahan argues in the article Selling Your Ads Off that creatives might be able to sell via great ad ideas, but they are not very good at selling the ads themselves. While this rings very true, and his advice about writing down five reasons the client should buy the ad campaign (who doesn't do this?) it makes me wonder what on earth the Ad Execs job is, if not to sell the ad campaigns?

You simply must take selling seriously if you are going to get your best work through this obstacle course we call the approval process. Don’t fake it. Don’t prepare as you’re heading to the client’s. Take this aspect of your job to heart for pity’s sake. And, yes, it is part of your job—unless you work with suits who sell your best work 80-90% of the time. (In which case, stay as far away from the presentation room as possible.)

I presume he's never been at one of those large alphabet soup agencies where the creatives are never - but never - allowed into the client pitch. It's hard to sell when we aren't even there. What do you think about his column? How is the client pitch done at your agency? (Go easy on me, first post).