In many locales, it’s important to work until the cows come home.
For Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative of Southeast Texas, it’s important to make sure the cows stay home.
To do that, GVEC relies on data collected and provided by ServiceTitan, the cloud-based software for the trades.
ServiceTitan’s Field Pro allows GVEC to review conversations with customers, and to learn about the people they serve—and in this case, serve is the exact word. Leadership then can coach the technicians, document notes about each client, and serve customers better.
If it’s a ranch—and there are plenty in the Guadalupe Valley—the cows can’t be ignored.
“We tell our people, ‘Hey, don't forget that Mrs. Johnson has cows and don't forget to close the gate because cows are expensive,’” said Operations Manager Stephen Brockman.
It all ties back to culture, which at GVEC is focused on the “outward mindset,” said Senior Marketing and Communications Manager Tammy Thompson. That means treating people as individuals, not account numbers.
“Closing the gate recognizes people as they are, that they live a rural lifestyle that means something to them,” Thompson said. “It ties back to the same things we do with our employees. Because it's second nature to what we live and do and believe in.”
From Community Service to Sustainable Business Model
Because GVEC is a cooperative, it’s owned by the members it serves. Profits are given back as capital credits (read: reduced rates) or reinvested in services. Electrical services are set up as not-for-profit. Its expanded offerings, branded “Beyond the Meter,” are for-profit but still benefit members.
“Any profit goes to the bottom line of the cooperative,” Thompson said. “That’s what we’re founded on.”
GVEC’s service area spans 13 South Central Texas counties in the 3,500 square-mile Guadalupe Valley, from the Hill Country near Kerrville to the Gulf Coast. It’s a mix of new subdivisions, ranches, and old-fashioned country living.
The cooperative was founded more than 80 years ago to provide electrical service to those in-need communities. Beyond the Meter programs flowed from the mission: HVAC in 1968, internet in the 1990s, fiber in 2013, and solar heating and battery storage solutions in 2017.
“We started doing electrical as a sort of community service,” Thompson said. “Over the years, that eventually rolled into a business model where we said, ‘OK, we're providing these services, maybe we can start making some money for the cooperative.’”
The expanded services, Thompson said, let GVEC act as a trusted partner rather than just a utility.
“We can give members tangible solutions,” she said. “That builds credibility and their trust in us.”
GVEC added ServiceTitan in 2016. In the decade since, revenue has grown from $7.5 million to $15 million. The cooperative runs nearly 50 field technicians across that large territory, supported by marketing and accounting staff in the office.
Treating Every Customer Like a Person, Not an Account Number
Brockman joined in July 2021, and he noticed right away the cooperative needed a boost.
“We were losing a significant amount of money,” he said, “enough that made me very scared of why I jumped from one secure job to another.”
He refocused priorities, brought in staff who shared the cooperative’s cultural values, and asked a pointed question: “What if ServiceTitan were used not just as software but as a driver of performance culture?” By 2025, GVEC posted $1.1 million in profit on just under $15 million in revenue.
“I have conversations with my buddies and I sing the praises of (ServiceTitan),” Brockman said. “Honestly, it's become such a natural thing that I'm almost assuming that everybody's on it.
“There's a lot of really smart people within ServiceTitan dedicated to doing good things. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we do what we do best and let ServiceTitan do what it does best. Merge those things and we can really do great things.”
ServiceTitan’s Field Pro lets leadership review technician conversations and coach employees — the goal is development, not surveillance. Marketing Pro connects customer outreach directly to account histories, giving staff a fuller picture of who they’re serving.
“I can give a hundred examples of how being able to reach into those customers' accounts allows us to know and touch them just a little bit more like a person than just a business transaction,” he said. “If a customer recently became a widow and really connects with one of our techs, we make sure that tech is the one who goes out.”
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Building a People-First Team — and the Tools to Back Them Up
The people-first approach shapes hiring. Every member of the customer service team came through referrals, and none from the trades. One had run a family business, one sold used cars, another worked at an HIV clinic.
“We were looking for people who could provide empathy, customer care, putting that kind of stuff first,” Brockman said. “We hired people that we could train.”
And ServiceTitan gives the cooperative confidence to keep hiring that way.
“With ServiceTitan we've got all the resources in the world to train them up on the technical side,” Brockman said. “It has built a product that supports us in a way that I don't have to be worried about anyone learning in a pretty efficient manner.”
