GlobeSt.com: How do you link them?

Lee: In every location we give that corporation the ability to own all earnings. By allowing each corporation to return the profit it generates back to its owners, they generate to each of their owners income higher than they could receive from any of our major competitors. Our structure is the essence of our success. At the end of the day, when you have more profits in the pool you've created an environment where people want to share information so the person next to them can make deals so the pool gets bigger. We try to structure an environment that allows people to do business efficiently, affectively and with an edge our competitors may not have because there is reluctance in the industry to share information.

GlobeSt.com: Does the information sharing cross markets?

Lee: We encourage our agents in one office to cooperate with an agent in another to gain access to all the proprietary information in that market. But we do expect, to some extent, that the agent from outside the area will involve an agent from inside the area. Every multi-office company in commercial real estate faces the same dilemma. Why should I in Los Angeles make all of my market information available to an agent in New Jersey so he can come to Los Angeles and do a deal without me? There is a maverick out there that would try to do that and jeopardize his client's best interest because he wouldn't make himself aware of specific market conditions.

GlobeSt.com: Do you have a strategy in place to becoming a national player?

Lee: We do, but it's not something you can sit down in a boardroom and draw up. It's not something you roll out in 12 months. What you need to do is attract people who are confident in their own ability to be successful. Salespeople choose a company for more than the way it is structured. You have to have visibility in the market; you have to be recognized as someone who has market share; you have to do the right kind of deals; you have to have institutional relationships; and you need to have information systems and support that facilitate your ability to go out there and broker. Some of these things take money, others take time. But it's a process that allows you to get better. It all builds on itself.

GlobeSt.com: How do you select new markets?

Lee: If we have a need we address it, and then we react to opportunity. We have a need today to be in the South. That's the one region we're not in. We're trying to address that by being proactive in a couple southern markets right now.

GlobeSt.com: Do you have a plan to be in a certain number of new markets in five years, or as it happens, it happens?

Lee: If you asked me that five years ago I would have said if it happens, it happens. Now, because of what we've seen happen, we can project and recognize trends. We're now in more regions so we can use a location in that region as the hub of the wheel. We are also a larger firm and doing more business with institutions and corporate America. Also, we've always grown at a higher percentage when the market was bad. When the market is bad, most firms have to adapt by cutting expenses and shutting down offices, particularly if you are public company or corporately owned. Our structure then becomes more of an attractive thing. We've been in the greatest boom in commercial real estate in my history over the past 10 years but this boom isn't going to last forever so, in terms of trending, our growth is going to be exponential when the market turns.

GlobeSt.com: Have you ever given thought to merging with a company like Cushman & Wakefield or CBRE?

Lee: No. We've created a company-owned firm. It's not about money; I mean it is and it isn't. It's about money to the individual because the individual gets rewarded on his own effort. It's about money to the investors in all our offices, who are our people, but we all recognize that we have something special. We're all about trying to protect it. When we sit back in the rocking chair and we say, 'I played a part in that company and it's gotten bigger and bigger since I left,' it'll be a great feeling.