Starting options
For more than a decade, ClearSummit has built production software for major corporations and startups. Leveraged Velocity gives growing companies access to that product-team experience. There are three ways to start. The difference is how much has already been decided — whether the work exists and just needs taking off your team, whether you know what to build, or whether the problem is clear and the software answer is not.
$12k per month
You already know what needs building. You need a team to build it.
$18k per month
You know where the business is stuck. You do not know what software would fix it.
Guided costs more because finding and shaping the work is part of it, not because more work comes out the other end.
Recognize your starting point already? The fit check will confirm which option it points at.
Check your fit — nine questionsExample 01 · Salesforce & CRM workflows
Salesforce has been customized over time, but quoting, approvals, handoffs, or reporting still depend on manual work outside the system.
The highest-friction handoff can move into the system the team already uses, with the surrounding data and approvals connected to it.
Usually Guided, because the business friction is visible but the highest-leverage change still has to be found.
Where it starts
We follow one real opportunity or service request through the system and find where people leave Salesforce to finish the work.
As it runs
We improve the highest-value handoff first, test it with the people who use it, and then work through the next constraint.
Where the quarter tends to land
One operating path is simpler and measurable, and the next improvement comes from observed use rather than a generic CRM wish list.
Example 02 · Warehouse, ERP & order integrations
The storefront, warehouse system, ERP, or accounting platform disagree about order, inventory, or fulfillment state, and people reconcile the differences by hand.
One order path can connect across the systems that own it, with exceptions surfaced for a person instead of every record being re-keyed.
Usually Build when the integration backlog is already specified; Guided when the source-of-truth and process decisions are still open.
Where it starts
We map one order path end to end, identify which system owns each state, and choose the first failure or manual handoff to remove.
As it runs
We connect the systems around that path, make exceptions visible, and test the change against real operational cases.
Where the quarter tends to land
One flow reconciles automatically, people handle the exceptions instead of re-keying everything, and the next integration priority is clear.
Example 03 · Inventory accuracy across systems
The storefront, warehouse or 3PL, and accounting system each hold part of the answer, so someone still walks the floor or checks three screens before making a decision.
The systems can feed one operating view that makes discrepancies visible instead of quietly overwriting them.
Build when the source systems and reconciliation rules are known; Guided when the source of truth still has to be settled with the business.
Where it starts
We trace one product or order through every system that changes its inventory state and identify where the records diverge.
As it runs
We connect the sources around that path, make the reconciliation rules explicit, and put exceptions in front of the person who can resolve them.
Where the quarter tends to land
A shared inventory view and an exception queue replace the repeated manual check, while the next source or workflow stays visible.
Example 04 · Field operations & mobile coordination
Assignments, status changes, photos, and exceptions travel by phone call or text, so the office learns what happened after the fact and the field learns what is next the same way.
A field-facing mobile experience can connect scheduling or dispatch with assignments, job status, photos, and exceptions where the work happens.
Build when the first field workflow is already named; Guided when the problem is clear but the best leverage point still has to be found with the crews and office team.
Where it starts
We follow one job from assignment through completion with the people in the field and the people coordinating it.
As it runs
We connect the first high-friction handoff to a simple field-facing view, then test it where the work actually happens.
Where the quarter tends to land
Office and field can read the same job state, and observed use points to the next workflow rather than a speculative feature list.
Example 05 · Customer support workflows
The team answers tickets one at a time, but recurring product and process problems stay buried in individual conversations.
Triage, routing, and issue analysis can live inside the support workflow, so recurring patterns become an input to the product and operating queue.
Usually Guided at first, because the leverage point has to be found across support evidence, product behavior, and the people who own the process.
Where it starts
We review the support categories and real requests with the team that owns the queue, then trace one repeated issue to its upstream cause.
As it runs
We improve the routing or internal workflow around it and turn the recurring evidence into an ordered product or process change.
Where the quarter tends to land
Your team keeps the support queue, while the patterns inside it become a repeatable source of priorities instead of isolated anecdotes.
Example 06 · Reporting & data analysis
Important operating or customer data lives in several systems. Each report rebuilds the definitions and repairs the data by hand, so the answer depends on who prepared it.
A repeatable data path can keep the definition, source data, and operating view together instead of recreating them for every question.
Usually Guided, because the useful decisions and trustworthy definitions have to be established with the business.
Where it starts
We choose one recurring decision, trace its source data, and agree what the numbers must mean before automating the report.
As it runs
We build a repeatable data path and view, reconcile it against the current manual answer, and make discrepancies visible.
Where the quarter tends to land
The analysis refreshes without a weekly rebuild, its definitions are recorded, and the next question can be added to the system instead of another spreadsheet.
Example 07 · Workflow & approval routing
A purchase order, contract, onboarding step, or internal handoff waits because nobody can see who has it, what is missing, or when it needs attention.
The workflow can carry visible ownership, status, and escalation, with AI drafting or pre-filling only where it earns a place and a person still approving.
Guided when the highest-friction handoff still has to be found; Build when the workflow, owners, and rules are already specified.
Where it starts
We follow one real request through the people and systems it touches and identify where status or authority disappears.
As it runs
We make the steps and owners explicit, connect the relevant systems, and add reminders or escalation around the actual exception paths.
Where the quarter tends to land
The request has a visible state and owner, while the next improvement comes from where work still waits or loops back.
Example 08 · Controlled AI workflows
A team repeatedly classifies, extracts, drafts, or recommends inside an operating workflow, but exceptions still need a named person to approve, reject, or escalate them.
A model can sit inside the existing workflow with defined authority, human review, exception handling, and an audit trail.
Guided when the leverage point and control model still need to be designed; Build when the workflow, reviewers, and acceptance rules are already specified.
Where it starts
We define the decision, its source data, the allowed actions, and the cases that must go to a person.
As it runs
We put the model inside the existing workflow with approval steps, exception handling, and an audit trail.
Where the quarter tends to land
We evaluate it against real cases, make failures visible, and document how the operating team reviews and improves it.
Example 09 · Self-service customer requests
A status check, document request, account change, or other repeated need still starts with an email or phone call and a person looking it up by hand.
The highest-friction request can move into a secure self-service path connected to the systems and approvals already behind it.
Guided when customer evidence has to reveal which request matters most; Build when the first self-service workflow and its rules are already clear.
Where it starts
We review the recurring request with the people who receive it and trace what they have to check or change to answer it.
As it runs
We connect the customer-facing step to the underlying system and put identity, approval, and exception handling around it.
Where the quarter tends to land
The repeated request has a direct product path, and actual use shows which adjacent request is worth addressing next.
Example 10 · Customer-facing product work
Support tickets, product usage, and customer conversations keep pointing to the same difficult step, but nobody has turned that evidence into an ordered product change.
Support evidence, usage data, and direct customer conversations can point to the next product change and the operating playbook around it.
Build when the product backlog is already owned and prioritized; Guided when the problem is clear but the highest-leverage change still has to be found.
Where it starts
We review the relevant support evidence and usage data, then speak with customers when it is useful and authorized.
As it runs
We choose the first product change, put it in front of the people affected, and watch what happens when it reaches live use.
Where the quarter tends to land
The next priority comes from observed behavior and support evidence, with the operating notes and customer-service playbook updated alongside it.
Example 11 · Procurement & purchasing
Requests arrive by email, someone types them into a purchase order, someone else checks the invoice against the order, and the differences get worked out in a spreadsheet nobody owns.
The checking can happen on its own, with only the mismatches put in front of a person, and what has been agreed visible before the invoice arrives rather than after.
Usually Automate when the checking already happens by hand every week and everyone agrees which system is right; Build when who may approve spend, and up to what, is still being settled.
Where it starts
We watch one buying cycle end to end, from the request to the paid invoice, and count where the same number gets typed twice.
As it runs
We remove the highest-volume re-keying first and put exceptions in front of the person who already resolves them.
Where the quarter tends to land
The routine matches reconcile on their own, the disagreements surface early, and what a person still touches is the part that needed judgment.
Example 12 · Compliance & certification tracking
Licences, insurance certificates, training records or supplier documents expire on their own schedule, and the business finds out when something is already lapsed.
The expiry can arrive as a warning with time to act on it, and the current picture can be answerable without a person assembling it.
Usually Automate when the records exist and somebody is checking them by hand; Build when what happens on a lapse — who is stopped, and by what authority — has to be decided first.
Where it starts
We take one category of expiring document, find where it lives today, and learn how the person tracking it currently knows.
As it runs
We make the warning arrive on its own, early enough to be useful, and put the current picture where the person responsible already looks.
Where the quarter tends to land
Nothing lapses by surprise in that category, and adding the next category is a smaller job than the first one was.
Example 13 · Scheduling & dispatch
Somebody builds the schedule for the next day out of jobs, availability and geography, then sends it out — and rebuilds it whenever something changes.
The assembling and the sending can stop being manual, even where the deciding does not.
Usually Automate when a person already produces the schedule and only the assembly and distribution are by hand; Build the moment the software is expected to decide who goes where, which is a rule nobody has written down.
Where it starts
We sit with whoever builds the schedule and separate the part that is judgment from the part that is collecting and typing.
As it runs
We remove the collecting and the sending, and leave the judgment with the person who has been making it.
Where the quarter tends to land
The schedule goes out without being assembled by hand, and if the deciding should move into software later, that is a separate and deliberate piece of work.
Example 14 · Onboarding — customer, employee or vendor
Someone works through a familiar sequence from memory — collecting documents, creating accounts, notifying people — and the steps get missed when that person is busy or away.
The sequence can run itself, with what arrives filed where it belongs and the right people told, and a person handling only what is genuinely unusual.
Usually Automate when one person could sit down and show us the sequence end to end; Guided when two people do it differently and picking one is not ours to do alone.
Where it starts
We watch the sequence run once, with the person who runs it, and write down what actually happens rather than what the document says.
As it runs
We remove the steps that are collecting, filing and notifying, and surface anything that does not match the usual path.
Where the quarter tends to land
The routine starts happen the same way every time, and the disagreement about how it should work — if there is one — is visible instead of buried.
Find your elevation