1851

Discovery Day is here. You and your franchise development team have done it&mdash;you&rsquo;ve vetted viable franchise candidates and educated them as much as you can about your brand. Now it&rsquo;s time to really show them what you&rsquo;re all about.&nbsp;

Three franchisors shared their tips for a successful Discovery Day: <a href="https://lemonsharkpoke.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=3-ways-to-make-sure-your-discovery-day-leads-to-signed-agreements-2710822" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">LemonShark Pok&eacute;</a> founder Tobi Miller, <a href="https://www.goddardschool.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=3-ways-to-make-sure-your-discovery-day-leads-to-signed-agreements-2710822" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Goddard School</a> director of franchise sales Jeff Travitz and <a href="https://www.carstar.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=3-ways-to-make-sure-your-discovery-day-leads-to-signed-agreements-2710822" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">CARSTAR</a> vice president of development Dave Foster.&nbsp;

Stay organized and do your research&nbsp;

Brands would do well to stay organized and lay out &ldquo;a clear agenda&rdquo; of the day&rsquo;s events, according to Miller.&nbsp;

&ldquo;If you are a restaurant concept, you should definitely be sampling food and touring a store,&rdquo; Miller said in an email, adding that discovery day should be about discovering a brand and not simply a hard sell.&nbsp;

Indeed, taking a good look at the food itself and delving into what makes it so great is critical for LemonShark Pok&eacute;.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Most importantly, we let the environment and food speak for themselves,&rdquo; Miller said in an email. &ldquo;But we also show how every single item is procured and prepared in the kitchen. It&#39;s a great opportunity to show off our low labor model while also discussing brand values such as a strong emphasis on quality control, training, and service.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Brands should also go the extra mile and research the prospective franchisees attending Discovery Day the same way they have undoubtedly researched the brand.&nbsp;

&ldquo;One of the things we do that is really important is really getting to know the prospects before they come to Discovery Day,&rdquo; Foster said. &ldquo;We send out a bio of each and every prospect to all of the people that will be speaking at Discovery Day. The key to that is to know who you&rsquo;re bringing in. If you don&rsquo;t know who you&rsquo;re bringing in, you don&rsquo;t know the pain points, you don&rsquo;t know how to steer the conversation and you&rsquo;re less likely to be successful.&rdquo;

Travitz noted that Discovery Day should never feel rushed, and that prospective franchisees should be given ample time to get their questions answered.

&ldquo;Brands that have pre-canned presentations and agendas with strict timelines restrict the learning opportunities a prospective franchisee can have while immersed in a franchise&rsquo;s culture and operations center,&rdquo; Travitz said in an email. &ldquo;Too often, brands do not allow enough time for back-and-forth and Q&amp;A. [The Goddard School] loves the tough questions and we do not script any answers to give prospects the answers we think they want to hear.&rdquo;

Provide executive team access

Discovery Day is a great opportunity for prospective franchisees to meet with a brand&rsquo;s executive team members and get a feel for the type of support and culture within a system.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Several years ago, we renamed our Discovery Days to &lsquo;Meet Our Team Day&rsquo; to set the appropriate tone for prospective franchisees,&rdquo; Travitz said in an email. &ldquo;We want our prospects to know they&rsquo;ll be taking a deep dive into our business and the support we provide as a franchisor. Our goal is to allow prospective franchisees unfettered access to each department&rsquo;s approach to business operations and what sets us apart as the leader in early childhood education and care.&rdquo;

Travitz noted how The Goddard School takes things even further by making sure employees across the brand are invested in the day.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The day is blocked on all our employees&rsquo; calendars and we really drive home the importance of these days to our employees,&rdquo; Travitz said in an email. &ldquo;That way, when we tour the prospects through the office, there really is a sense of welcoming and excitement. Additionally, we make sure to invite various team members from each department to lunch to make sure our prospects have time and access to as many team members as possible to ask questions and learn, but also to develop relationships and begin to feel part of what we are building at The Goddard School.&rdquo;

Be sensitive

Franchise development executives will agree: Discovery day is a big moment, and brand representatives should be sensitive to that. This is especially true for a brand like CARSTAR, which mostly deals with franchise conversions.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It becomes an emotional moment,&rdquo; Foster said. &ldquo;CARSTAR is a conversion franchise organization, so we&rsquo;re taking existing body shops&mdash;sometimes they&rsquo;ve been in the family for 50 years&mdash;and converting them to CARSTAR. We really have to be tuned in to the emotion of the moment. As a sales organization, we have to be very professional about how we manage emotions; how we manage the people and their questions; how we&rsquo;re sensitive to the branding piece and that we ensure them that this transition is seamless. We&rsquo;re not going to get rid of their local identity.&rdquo;

Foster praised the CARSTAR sales team for being especially in-tune with this aspect of the business.&nbsp;

&ldquo;They are true solution-oriented sales professionals that have this empathy for the existing body shop and owners&mdash;the generation that has worked in the body shop&mdash;to what the local identity means to these independent body shops,&rdquo; Foster said.&nbsp;

And again, the hard sell should not be the focus on discovery day.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We don&#39;t think discovery day is a good time to push for signatures on paper,&rdquo; Miller said in an email. &ldquo;I would recommend avoiding the &lsquo;hard sell.&rsquo; Discovery day can, for sure, help close deals, but keep the focus on what&#39;s happening in the restaurant&mdash;the rest will take care of itself. We&#39;d actually rather candidates take a bit more time to digest what they&#39;ve discovered before deciding to sign on.&quot;

3 Ways to Make Sure Your Discovery Day Leads to Signed Agreements

1851 Franchise

Staying organized and providing access to brand executives will help prospective franchisees sign on the dotted line. 

3-ways-to-make-sure-your-discovery-day-leads-to-signed-agreements

Children's Lighthouse

Why Children’s Lighthouse Is a Great Opportunity for Swim School Franchisees

why-childrens-lighthouse-is-a-great-opportunity-for-swim-school-franchisees

Children’s Lighthouse Closes the Third Quarter with Record Franchise Signings and New School Opening

childrenslighthouse-q3-2025-growth

Pet Wants

How Pet Wants Is Redefining the Customer Experience in the Pet Industry

pet-wants-redefining-customer-experience

Jollibee

How Much Can You Really Make With a Jollibee Franchise? Inside the Numbers of Item 19

how-much-can-you-really-make-with-a-jollibee-franchise-inside-the-numbers-of-item-19

United Water Restoration Group

United Water Restoration Group Opens New Locations and Expands Digital Tools in Q3

united-water-restoration-group-franchise-q3-2025

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Thursday 1851 Franchise Agg - NASAA’s Noncompete Push

NASAA’s Noncompete Push Puts Franchise Growth on Uncertain Ground

franchise-noncompete-nasaa-advisory-reasonableness-standard

How a Steady Economy Could Help Franchisors Plan Their Next Move

how-a-steady-economy-could-help-franchisors-plan-their-next-move

Bed Bath & Beyond - Franchise Expansion - Retail Strategy - 1851 Franchise

Bed Bath & Beyond Launches Franchise Model as Part of Comeback Strategy

bed-bath-beyond-franchise-expansion-retail-strategy

Senior Entrepreneurship - Franchising - 1851 Franchise

Senior Entrepreneurship Is Rising — And Franchising Is a Key Outlet

senior-entrepreneurship-franchising-silver-startups

U.S. Government Shutdown - Impact on Franchises - 1851 Franchise

Government Shutdown Stalls SBA Loans: How the Shutdown Could Impact Franchises

government-shutdown-impacts-sba-loans-tourism-franchises

image of franchise deep dive from 1851 franchise on doody calls franchise authority brands

DoodyCalls Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

doodycalls-franchise-deep-dive

image of mellow mushroom deep dive into financials article from 1851 franchise

Mellow Mushroom Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

mellow-mushroom-franchise-deep-dive

How goGLOW Turned Clean Beauty Into a Scalable Franchise and Why It’s Accelerating Now

goglow-clean-beauty-tanning-franchise

Shoot 360 Aims for the Topgolf Model, Using Elite Basketball Tech to Appeal to Players '7 to 70'

shoot-360-franchise-growth-tech-basketball-brad-butterworth

A Practical Playbook: Who To Call First When Franchising Your Business

franchising-your-business-who-to-call-first

image of jerome hanway from right at home Las Cruces, New Mexico 1851 franchise franchisee spotlight

Jerome Hanway Is Building His Right at Home Franchise Around His Mission To Serve

right-at-home-franchise-las-cruces-jerome-hanway

NJCAR v. Ford - New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

new-jersey-franchise-practices-act-njcar-v-ford

1851 Franchisee Spotlight graphic with photo of Barb Volk and KidStrong logo

Why This Orangetheory Fitness Franchise Owner Is Developing KidStrong Franchises

kidstrong-franchise-owner-barb-volk-2025

graphic image of an 1851 franchisee spotlight brayden and johnny steven of teriyaki madness

Father-and-Daughter Team Bring Teriyaki Madness to Wichita, Kansas, With Big Expansion Plans

johnny-brayden-steven-teriyaki-madness-wichita

3 Ways to Make Sure Your Discovery Day Leads to Signed Agreements

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS