---
title: "Franchise Development: Are Virtual Discovery Days Here To Stay?"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/18e2ea28-f933-4757-b2d9-ec286b462c4f
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/articles/franchise_development_are_virtual_discovery_days_here_to_stay.html
author: "Art Coley"
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
topics: ["Emerging brands","Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2020-06-24T09:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:08:34.764Z
image: https://imgs.franchising.com/art/articles/5368_plate.jpg
---

# Franchise Development: Are Virtual Discovery Days Here To Stay?

**TL;DR:** Franchise development teams can implement virtual discovery days to connect with potential franchisees despite physical distancing restrictions. Art Coley, leader of CGI Franchise, suggests restructuring the discovery day agenda to include virtual modules and practice to make it routine.

*By Art Coley, originally published in Franchising.com on 2020-06-24. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/articles/franchise_development_are_virtual_discovery_days_here_to_stay.html).*

## Story

Individuals are not getting on planes to come visit you. That is the current reality, and will be for many more weeks to come. So how do you get started creating and implementing a virtual discovery day?

*Implement a Virtual Discovery Day!* Communicate – get it out there First, communicate! Use your internal database of leads, brokers, your website, press releases, etc.

Announce that your franchise is implementing a virtual discovery day (VDD) effective immediately. Publish the dates of at least the next two virtual discovery days with a call to action to learn more. Note: Just doing alone this will generate some interest – and candidates for your recruiters.

Restructure your D-day Next, pull out your current discovery day agenda and restructure it. This will be a minimum four-hour event for the modules and breaks. The agenda should include the same presenters and topics.

You still want to include time for candidate introductions, marketing, onboarding, training, technology, executive team interviews, etc. – or whatever makes sense for your brand. Yes, the physical trip to a location or dinner the night before isn’t possible.

But including a virtual “on-site location experience” is. Do a dress rehearsal. Practice!

Yes, it will have a different feel, but will become routine very quickly, and people are becoming more accustomed every day to meeting online. Keep ’em coming! Finally, remember that your step for discovery day is an important element with recruitment.

It’s a time for both parties to better understand each other, learn more, and find if it’s a fit. Dropping the discovery day step because candidates are unable to travel is a big mistake and a missed opportunity. Get it going for your brand today, and keep quality candidates moving through your recruitment process!

Let’s go to work! ***Art Coley** leads CGI Franchise, which helps franchise companies with recruitment systems and processes. He is writing a special column focused on recruitment during tough times for Franchise Update that will be published weekly.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- franchise development (topic)
- Art Coley (person)
- CGI Franchise (company)
- recruitment process (topic)
- virtual discovery days (topic)

---
Originally reported by Art Coley, Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/articles/franchise_development_are_virtual_discovery_days_here_to_stay.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/18e2ea28-f933-4757-b2d9-ec286b462c4f).