Jack Milligan
Editor-at-Large
The Chief Customer Officer at ConnectOne Bancorp
Close
About the authors
Written by
Jack Milligan
Editor-at-Large
Jack Milligan is editor-at-large of Bank Director magazine, a position to which he brings over 40 years of experience in financial journalism organizations. Mr. Milligan directs Bank Director’s editorial coverage and leads its director training efforts. He has a master’s degree in Journalism from The Ohio State University.
For Frank Sorrentino III, it’s all about the customer.
Sorrentino is chairman and CEO of ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Sorrentino founded ConnectOne in 2005 when he was CEO of the FSS Construction Co., a luxury home and multi-family housing builder. He decided to start his own bank after several frustrating experiences when his current lender had been acquired by a larger institution and service quality deteriorated.
“I think it’s the classic American story of someone who felt disenfranchised by the service they were being offered or the products they had in front of them,” he says. “After the third time that happened to me, I said I wasn’t going to go through that again.”
Today, ConnectOne has grown to $9.6 billion in assets with operations in New Jersey and New York, but the bank’s intense focus on customer service hasn’t changed. And a big reason why is because Sorrentino serves as the bank’s de facto chief customer officer.
In this edition of The Slant Podcast, Sorrentino talks about the importance of having a culture that emphasizes customer service and how he drives that message throughout the organization.
Sorrentino is also a pilot, and he also talks about his love for flying – and why he never flies himself on business trips.
This episode, and all past episodes of The Slant Podcast, are available on BankDirector.com, Spotify and Apple Music.
WRITTEN BY
Jack Milligan
Editor-at-Large
Jack Milligan is editor-at-large of Bank Director magazine, a position to which he brings over 40 years of experience in financial journalism organizations. Mr. Milligan directs Bank Director’s editorial coverage and leads its director training efforts. He has a master’s degree in Journalism from The Ohio State University.