In my neck of the woods, my whole region it seems, it's like the granite yards all got together and said "No more samples!" Previously, they'd have a system where we'd tell the guy with the hammer which slabs we'd like samples of, and with the knock of the hammer, we get a few samples. We would bring our cabinet samples to the granite yard, get the granite samples, and be easily able to select other materials for the renovation.
When my client recently told me that she selected her granite one day, when she had gone without me (gasp!) she said that she loved it, she wanted it, and she wanted me involved in the purchase, templating, details, and logistics. Today, I went to the granite yard to give the fabricator a deposit and to see the granite my client chose.
Having forgotten my camera at the office, I decided to take a bunch of pictures with my cell phone for her (she wasn't with me.) I came back to the office, uploaded the photos to her nearest CVS to make prints from, and left her a message that she should go pick them up and "waa laa" she now has a reminder of her granite. I was happy to have thought of that solution!
Lesson: Take your camera everywhere!!!