Last week, we received an email from Charles Schwab asking us to complete a short survey regarding the firm’s online trading community. As with most customer satisfaction surveys, the firm is trying to get a better understanding of how, why and/or if customers are using this social network. The most interesting questions offer a glimpse into what Schwab might be looking to do with the community going forward. The following picture is the sixth screen from a 10-screen survey:

Most of the features mentioned in this list, like performance tracking and groups, represent key capabilities offered by TradeKing and Zecco and absent from Schwab’s platform. The firm may ultimately decide that these flashier features aren’t necessary for their community, but the fact that they’re exploring these possibilities shows Schwab is probably paying close attention to its competitors.

Schwab’s use of a customer survey drives home two key recommendations from our recently published report Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry  - start small and use your community as a sounding board for product and service improvements.

The firm might have considered including some of the elements referenced in the survey when it first launched the active trader community, but that would have raised costs and probably delayed implementation. Instead, Schwab started with a basic community forum framework and waited to see if customers would embrace the community concept. Now that the community is in place, the firm can solicit the opinions of actual users to determine whether further development is worth the investment.

The seventh screen of the survey is also of particular interest to us because it addresses a major hole in Schwab’s overall social media strategy in regards to expert blogs and articles. Not only does Schwab use the opportunity to see if clients are interested in reading content from Schwab experts or 3rd-party analysts, the firm also explores what topics interest them and what format they’d prefer - blogs/articles, videos or online events/seminars.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Schwab will discover its customers find little or no value in the community, in which case the firm might consider cutting its losses and shutting the community down. We think that’s probably unlikely due to the good level of activity we see in the community forums. Either way, the survey should help Schwab get a better idea of client satisfaction with the existing community and provide some insights as to the direction users want the community to take.

What do you think will happen with Schwab’s Active Trader Community in 2009? Do you think clients will ask for features like portfolio tracking and content rating capabilities? Will Schwab be forced to rethink its social media strategy? We’d love to hear your thoughts so feel free to post a comment here. If you haven’t picked up your copy yet of Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry, please contact Jaclyn Silverberg at jsilverberg {at} corporateinsight.com for more information.