2024 Outstanding Woman in Customer Success: Nicole Eltom

Name: Nicole Eltom

Job Title: Vice President, Customer Success

Company: TELUS Business

Why she won:

Nicole Eltom, Vice-president of Customer Success at TELUS, is an accomplished leader with 30 years experience in sales, relationship management and business development. Nicole holds a diploma in Sales and Marketing Management from UBC’s Sauder School of Business and is certified in Pragmatic Marketing, and Business Relationship Management (CBRM®).

Nicole leads a national team within TELUS Business Solutions that is focused on partnering with customers to understand their unique business priorities and to maximize the lifetime value of their services with TELUS to drive EBITDA growth and customer retention. Nicole is passionate about her team, and through her authentic and collaborative leadership, she’s fostered a best in class team culture that is propelled by integrity, innovation and spirited teamwork. Nicole is a strong advocate for inclusivity, mental and physical wellbeing and is the Executive Sponsor for TELUS Business Solutions’ Health and Wellness program. 

In her free time, Nicole enjoys an active lifestyle with her family, traveling and various sports. Nicole is passionate about connection, coaching and empowering others. She believes providing value and giving back is an important part of a fully balanced life and has volunteered locally in her community in many capacities over the years.

These are her achievements:

• Champion for Diversity and Inclusion: Nicole is a passionate advocate for DE&I, leading the TELUS Business Solutions DE&I program and actively fostering an inclusive culture within her team and across the organization. She exemplifies growth and continuous learning, setting a powerful example for others.

• Strategic Leadership: Nicole spearheaded the successful launch of the Customer Success function for the TBS Commercial segment in a record timeframe. She built strong partnerships with industry experts like McKinsey, Gainsight, Salesforce, and Lunen. She championed the transformation, and effectively managed stakeholders to drive program success. Customer Success now supports the Enterprise Commercial and Public sector accounts nationally across Canada.

• Building a Collaborative Culture: Nicole has built strategic relationships with various TELUS entities, such as TELUS International, Health, Agriculture, and Security, to share her Customer Success knowledge, learnings and experience. By bringing these teams together, she built a Customer Success Community of Practices at TELUS, uniting various business units that are embarking on their own Customer Success journeys. These collaborative efforts solidified her reputation as a leader in the field of Customer Success at TELUS.

• Empowering and Recognizing Her Team: Nicole is a champion for her team members, celebrating their successes and actively promoting them on social media. She prioritizes role clarity (particularly when TELUS went through CS transformation), empowers her team, and fosters a positive work environment that motivates them to excel. Nicole ensures effective collaboration to minimize roadblocks for her team and showcase how to build the right relationships. Nicole’s effective collaboration style ensures she can advocate on behalf of her team and quickly gain buy-in, support and engagement from across the business.

• Knowledge Sharing & Community Contribution: Nicole is an active Customer Success leader who consistently shares her knowledge and experience both internally and externally and industry events. She actively engages in panels, where she not only shares her story but also imparts her wisdom about the Customer Success practice at various events. Additionally, she eagerly participates in relevant gatherings to inspire others with her experience, career journey, and the valuable lessons she has learned throughout the transformation to Customer Success. Examples include:

  • 2024 Sales Summit - Public Sector Breakout session on what good looks like working with Customer Success

  • CEO Executive Edmonton forum member (monthly); establishing trusted local executive relationships

  • VP executive sponsor nationally for TELUS resource group, Connections, focused on empowering other women in their careers

  • Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Premier lunch: addressed 1000+ business leaders on TELUS’ investments (and resulting benefits) in Alberta (Oct 2023)

  • Speaker at Gainsight Pulse conference in San Francisco: Transformational Leadership: A Journey to Inspire Organizational Change (May 2023)

  • Canadian SME Business Magazine (March 2023): Women leaders share ‘superpowers’ to business success (embracing challenge is a good place to start) 

  • Small Business  Podcast (March 2023): Breaking Barriers: Women Leading the Way in Tech 

  • 2023 TELUS Sales Summit speaker session: Customer Success Panel with SalesForce and Cisco Executives; speaker VP panel at Director Forum; 

  • CWI Women in Leadership conference (2021, 2022)

  • BRM Connect Global conference (2019, 2021),

  • Board member of Centre for Race & Culture (Ongoing)

From her nominator: “Nicole knows that true leadership means being the change she wants to see. Hiring practices within her own team include balanced candidates and hiring panels….She was the first to lead the successful transformation to Customer Success and then drive continued ongoing success, Nicole prioritizes relationships and collaboration with peers from across sales, marketing, delivery and finance teams.”

Congratulations Nicole!