Boost Your 2024 Signings: 4 steps to attract candidates to discovery day

Most franchise brands use some version of discovery day in their process to recruit new franchisees. I’ve seen the event titled differently, but it is the step where the candidate meets and engages with leadership and support team members. Regardless of how you have it titled and organized, the discovery day step is critically important and usually results in a high conversion to signings and new franchisees. 

I get lots of questions around best practices for a discovery day. 

• “Does an in-person event produce better results than a virtual event?”

• “Where should discovery day be in the process? What step?”

• “What should the conversion rates be from an application to attending discovery day? From discovery day to a franchise agreement signing?”

• “How do we know when a candidate is ready and prepared to attend discovery day?”

These are questions you should be asking. They deserve attention from every brand. For now, let us keep our focus on this simple mathematical truth: If you as a franchise executive and leader want to sign more new franchisees in 2024, you must have more candidates attend discovery day. 

If you agree and believe that you need more candidates attending discovery day, here are four proven best practices that will improve your application to discovery day conversion rate and increase the number of candidates attending your next scheduled event.

1. Set the expectation at the beginning. Discovery day is part of your process. If a candidate is having a step one session today, the candidate would be expected to attend discovery day within the next 30–45 days if the candidate proves to be qualified and invited. Too many recruiters treat this event as if the candidate is planning a vacation. This special meeting is offered like an item on a calendar for the candidate to choose when convenient. Wrong! If the candidate can’t attend the one or two dates offered, there are other issues. Get those on the table and discuss them right now. 

2. Ask the candidate. If your candidate has completed the required steps and requested actions and is qualified to attend discovery day, they should be aware of that fact, and you should ask for their commitment to attend. If the answer is “no,” or you are getting delays, the pushback on committing should be the next topic of discussion. 

3. Help them understand what it looks like. Share the agenda and walk through it with them. Share videos, photos, and testimonials. Take the mystery out of what is going to happen. A well designed and effective discovery day is an incredible event that will connect the dots for all that they have been learning and discovering about your brand. In other words, if the candidate has earned the right to attend, sell them on why being there is a benefit to them.

4. Provide a discovery day reimbursement. Offer up to $1,500 toward travel expenses for completing your discovery day step. If virtual, consider turning that investment into a discovery day preparation kit. A kit might include materials for the event along with a gift card to their favorite restaurant for dinner, a coffee mug, water bottle, T-shirt, and more. And please don’t make any reimbursement or gift cards conditional upon signing a franchise agreement. Think about how much you’ve already invested to get a qualified candidate to this point. If the candidate meets brand requirements and it is time to have your executives and support team meet them, make this direct investment. By putting unconditional dollars on the table, you make a strong statement about the purpose of the meeting and show that your brand is dedicated to the best outcome for both parties. You’ll see quickly why the ROI on discovery day reimbursement is an easy decision. 

You have worked hard to prepare for 2024—strategy for lead generation, budgets, appointment setting, training for the team, website updates, metric analysis, and more. I’m asking you to run one more conversion analysis. What would it mean to your 2024 results if you increased the ratio from application to attending discovery day by 10–20%?

Let’s go to work! 

Art Coley is CEO of CGI Franchise. Using the proven Recruitment Operating System® (ROS), Art and the ROS team help franchise companies implement and execute a predictable, repeatable, and sustainable franchisee recruitment program. The company is based in Temple, Texas, and works with brands worldwide. Contact Art at 281-658-9409 or acoley@cgifranchise.com.