Terms & Conditions

  1. These terms and conditions apply to The Client Choice Awards (Awards), including entries, eligibility, adjudication processes and related matters.
  2. The promoter of the Awards is Beaton Research + Consulting (ABN 48 135 310 459) of Suite 9.12, 9 Yarra Street, South Yarra, Victoria, 3141, Australia (‘Beaton‘). Beaton owns, independently conducts the research, adjudicates the results, and promotes the Awards.
  3. Beaton is the exclusive owner of the research data, intellectual property rights in the research data and research process of the Awards.
  4. Any information on the Awards website relating to entry into and conduct of the Awards forms part of these terms and conditions. This information includes the Beaton Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.
  5. A firm can only have one entry in the Awards but may be considered for multiple categories of awards.
  6. Beaton will acknowledge all entries on receipt of the firm’s completed entry form. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, you should contact Beaton as your firm may not be entered in the Awards.
  7. Beaton may waive the entry criteria for any firm or may enter a firm that has not applied for the Awards.
  8. Only complete client databases will be valid for inclusion in the Awards, unless otherwise agreed in writing by Beaton. A complete client database refers to a complete list of the individuals representing the applicant firm’s clients, associates and referrers, described hereafter as clients. Clients include current, i.e. in the last 12 months, and non-current clients to whom the firm has provided services. This list must include each client’s first name, surname and email address. Actions that may render a database invalid include, but are not limited to, the firm submitting a database which contains only a portion of its clients.
  9. Beaton may reject an entry, including an entry that has previously been accepted, where the entrant has not complied with these terms and conditions, or where Beaton believes it is necessary in order to protect the integrity of the research process and the Awards. This would include, without limitation, where Beaton believes for any reason including our own testing, the entrant is attempting to manipulate ratings, contact clients about the Awards and/or has provided an invalid database of its client contacts.
  10. By entering, firms acknowledge that Beaton will de-duplicate and clean all firms’ databases before the survey commences.
  11. Beaton will hold the contents of firms’ databases confidential and will use the databases and the associated analyses only for the purposes of the Awards and related research services that are by-products of the survey process, including Beaton Benchmarks and Beaton Compass, unless express instructions to do otherwise are received by Beaton.
  12. Beaton disclaims all liability to entrants in relation to any representations made in relation to the Awards, except those liabilities that cannot by law be disclaimed. In particular, Beaton disclaims any liability for the validity of the research and the choosing of winners and finalists, subject to any rights that cannot be waived. Entrants waive their rights to injunctive relief in relation to the Awards, the research process or use of the research data, including an injunction to prevent publication of winners.
  13. As the research depends upon an individual respondent being prepared to rate professional service providers and then identifying firms as providers, Beaton makes no representation regarding the availability of client rating data in relation to a particular firm.
  14. As the research process depends on third parties’ willingness to respond to an online survey, Beaton cannot guarantee that sufficient rating data will be collected to a) identify finalists or winners of particular Awards, b) include entrants in the Awards, or c) provide the performance ratings of specific firms.
  15. Where Beaton receives a delivery failure message when sending the online survey to an email address, Beaton may exclude that individual from the research process without trying to ascertain the individual’s correct email address.
  16. Client contacts provided by an entering firm may be asked to rate the performance of a firm in addition to or instead of the entrant. This may be for reasons that include the research method and the fact that individuals may be nominated by several entrants as a client contact.
  17. Beaton reserves the right to not select finalists or winners in an Award category and/or disqualify an entering firm for any reason.
  18. Beaton reserves the right to, at its sole discretion and at any time, change, modify, add or remove portions of these terms and conditions. Please check this website for the most up-to-date version of these terms and conditions.