How to Make the Most Out of Discovery Day

Discovery Day, Decision Day, Candidate Day — whatever a brand calls it, it essentially means the same thing: a franchise prospect comes into the corporate office to learn more about the brand and determine whether or not they want to become a franchisee. The prospect uses this time to get to know the brand’s leaders and get a glimpse into how the marketing, operations, finance, training and development teams work together to support the franchisees. At the same time, the leadership team is using this time to assess whether the candidate is a cultural fit for the brand.

Ahead of Discovery Day, it’s important for both sides to be prepared to make the most of their time together. Michael Metzger, CEO of One Way Property Restoration, a full-service carpet cleaning and restoration services franchise, suggests that franchisees perform due diligence by doing comprehensive research on different franchise systems, as well as talking to other franchisees to be able to ask the right questions on Discovery Day.

Andrew Beach, General Manager of Reis and Irvy’s, the first self-service Froyo Robot franchise, encourages anyone interested in buying a franchise to attend several Discovery Days to find the best fit. He adds, “A Discovery Day should confirm what’s been taught on the business model so far, introduce actual examples of the business in operation, explore corporate resources, validate the leadership and support staff and deliver a guide through the next few steps including the franchise approval and awarding process.”

Metzger also notes the importance of attendance by anyone that will play a part in running the franchise. “Everyone who will be making the final decision needs to be in attendance, be on the same page and shouldn’t contradict each other,” said Metzger. “If it’s a partnership, both partners should be there because franchisors like to see a support system and camaraderie in place.”

Beach adds that franchisors should avoid putting prospects together throughout Discovery Day tours. “Sometimes, one prospect will be on a different level of understanding than the other, and it can hurt the discovery process if one prospect is left behind during conversations.”

 Those conversations should be polished, engaging and interactive, and franchisors should do their part to not only sell the prospect on the franchise but make the day a learning experience for the entire group as well.

“Franchisors shouldn’t just give information -- they should make the session interactive and engaging, and have their key staff in attendance to be able to answer all questions related to franchising. The last thing a franchisor wants is for the team to come off as not knowing the answers,” said Metzger. He also stresses the importance of honesty and suggests that if a franchisee is looking at a number of franchises, they should be upfront about it. The same goes for franchisors — if they don’t have something in their franchise system, they should say so.

After each Discovery Day is over, the leadership team should sit down and discuss in detail what went well and what can be improved for the next time and create a plan to keep improving upon the model.

“Just like every innovative company in the world, you need to learn to adapt to the market and evolve with it,” said Beach. “And as our business has grown, our Discovery Day has developed and improved as we have learned more about our successes and found new ways to introduce those to prospective franchisees visiting us. We also move the locations of our Discovery Day tours, allowing for various prospects from different sides of the country to enjoy a day full of discovery.”

When both the franchisor and the prospect are prepared and engaged in the session, Discovery Day should provide an opportunity to ask and answer questions, to have open and transparent communication, and for both parties to make a decision on next steps.