A Small Success

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John Kanas was late, and he hates to be late. The North Fork Bank CEO's flight to Orlando, Fla., had been delayed, and he arrived at his luxury hotel just minutes before he was scheduled to address investors. He needed his suit pressed. He needed dinner reservations. He needed to wash up. And he needed to set up the projector for his PowerPoint show. The young woman behind the concierge desk sensed his agitation. "She told me to relax and go to my room to get ready," Kanas, 56, recalls of the 1999 encounter. She took care of all the details. The talk went off without a hitch. And Kanas had an insight: Why can't a banker be more like a concierge?

Thus was born the Business Concierge Group of North Fork Bank, based in Melville, N.Y., 35 miles east of Manhattan. Since 2001, bankers with the group have aggressively sought new business among small-company owners and wealthy individuals and then acted as personal bankers, smoothing the way for those favored customers, whether they need a revolving line of credit, a mortgage or a trust.

North Fork has opened 24 branches throughout the New York City region over the past 22 months, for a total of 173, so it can better serve its concierge customers and others who it finds are more likely to conduct transactions if they can do so in person. Along with a few other regional banks — such as TCF in the Midwest and National Commerce in the Southeast — North Fork has helped drive a 3% rise in bank branches since 2000, even amid a slumping economy.

While many larger commercial banks have suffered losses and struggled with acquisitions, North Fork's earnings per share grew 26% in 2002, and its stock price is up 32% since April. With almost $132,000 of net income per employee, North Fork is the nation's most efficient bank. "The concierge group has brought a real entrepreneurial spirit to North Fork and been a major contribution to the bank's success," says Jason Goldberg, a Lehman Brothers bank analyst.

North Fork's concierge bankers receive only $25,000 in base salary but collect commissions of up to 1% on new business they bring in, plus residuals if the money stays in the company. One 35-year-old banker based in Manhattan earned $350,000 last year. The 74 concierge bankers have brought in more than $710 million in deposits since January 2001. When Kanas recruits bankers, he looks for those who have contacts and "a sphere of influence." They include two pro athletes, a dentist, a former mayor of a Long Island village and a bartender. Their client service draws rave reviews. New York City real estate manager Martin Hollander recently learned of a promising foreclosure auction on an office building. But the auction, a 45-minute drive away, was due to start in an hour — and Hollander needed a certified check to make a bid. He called North Fork's Scott Skorobohaty, who filled out the paper work and directed him to drive to a downtown branch, where someone would be waiting on the sidewalk, holding the check. Hollander says of the hand-off: "I hardly had to slow down my car."