Softly follows company with forceful result (8)
I believe the answer is:
cogently
'softly follows company with forceful result' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'softly follows company' is the wordplay.
'softly' becomes 'gently' (synonyms).
'follows' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'gently' put after 'co' is 'COGENTLY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cogently that I've seen before include "with force" , "Persuasively, convincingly" .)