The $1M+ Revenue Operations Tech Stack

Your tech stack is either accelerating revenue or slowing it down. There's no middle ground.

After building RevOps systems for 50+ companies between $1M-$10M ARR, we've seen what works. Most teams have too many tools that don't talk to each other. A few have the opposite problem: trying to do everything in their CRM.

Here's the exact tech stack that scales from $1M to $10M without falling apart.

The Core vs Optional Framework

Before we get into specific tools, understand this: Core tools are non-negotiable. Optional tools solve specific problems after your core is working.

Most companies do this backwards. They add optional tools (webinar platforms, social selling tools, revenue intelligence) before fixing their core (CRM, marketing automation, analytics).

Result? Data fragmentation, integration hell, and wasted budget.

The Core Stack (6 Tools)

These are the foundational tools every $1M+ company needs:

1. CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive)

What it does: System of record for all customer relationships, pipeline management, sales activity tracking.

When to use which:

• HubSpot: Best for $1M-$10M companies with PLG motion or marketing-led growth. Easier to manage yourself.
• Salesforce: Best for complex enterprise sales (>$50K deals, 6+ month cycles). Requires admin or consultant.
• Pipedrive: Best for transactional sales (<$10K deals, <30 day cycles). Simple but limited.

Cost: $50-$200/user/month depending on plan

What breaks without it: Everything. Your CRM is the foundation of your entire revenue stack.

2. Marketing Automation (HubSpot Marketing, Marketo, or ActiveCampaign)

What it does: Email campaigns, lead nurturing, landing pages, lead scoring, form tracking.

When to use which:

• HubSpot Marketing: If you're using HubSpot CRM, this is a no-brainer. Native integration saves massive headaches.
• Marketo: If you're on Salesforce and need advanced attribution. Expensive and complex.
• ActiveCampaign: Budget option for companies <$3M ARR. Good automation but weak analytics.

Cost: $800-$3,200/month

What breaks without it: Lead nurturing is manual, no lead scoring, can't track campaign performance.

3. Analytics Platform (Google Analytics 4, Mixpanel, or Amplitude)

What it does: Website traffic, user behavior, conversion tracking, attribution.

When to use which:

• Google Analytics 4: Default choice. Free and good enough for most B2B companies.
• Mixpanel: If you have a product-led growth motion and need to track in-app behavior.
• Amplitude: Enterprise option when you need advanced product analytics.

Cost: $0-$2,000/month

What breaks without it: No visibility into what drives conversions, can't optimize campaigns, wasted ad spend.

4. Business Intelligence (Looker, Metabase, or Mode)

What it does: Centralized reporting, cross-system dashboards, revenue analytics.

When to use which:

• Looker (Google): Best for companies with data teams. Expensive but powerful.
• Metabase: Open-source option. Great for technical teams who want control.
• Mode: SQL-based analytics for technical RevOps teams. Middle ground on price and complexity.

Cost: $0-$5,000/month

What breaks without it: You're stuck with individual tool dashboards that don't talk to each other. No single source of truth.

Alternative: If you don't have a data team, use our RevOps Dashboard instead. Pre-built, connects to your CRM in 15 minutes.

5. Customer Data Platform (Segment or RudderStack)

What it does: Central hub that routes customer data to all your tools. Instead of 10 integrations, you have one.

When to use which:

• Segment: Industry standard. Works with everything. More expensive but worth it.
• RudderStack: Open-source alternative. Cheaper but requires more technical setup.

Cost: $0-$1,500/month (free tier works until ~100K events/month)

What breaks without it: Integration nightmare. Every new tool requires custom integration work. Data gets stuck in silos.

When you need it: Once you have 5+ tools in your stack. Not needed at $1M, critical by $5M.

6. Communication Tools (Slack + Zoom + Calendly)

What they do: Internal communication, video calls, meeting scheduling.

These are obvious. If you're not using them, you're living in 2010.

Cost: $15-$30/user/month combined

The Optional Stack (Based on Your Problem)

Add these only after your core is working. Each solves a specific problem.

When You Need Better Prospecting

Problem: Sales team can't find enough leads, spending too much time on research.

Solutions:

• ZoomInfo or Apollo: B2B contact database + enrichment ($10K-$30K/year)
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Social selling, warm intros ($80-$135/user/month)
• Clearbit: Real-time company data enrichment ($50-$2,000/month)

When to add: When your outbound team is spending >30% of time on research.

When You Need Better Email Deliverability

Problem: Cold emails going to spam, low open rates (<20%).

Solutions:

• Instantly or Smartlead: Cold email infrastructure, inbox rotation ($37-$97/month)
• Warmup Inbox: Email warming to improve deliverability ($15-$69/month)

When to add: When you're sending >500 cold emails per week and deliverability drops below 85%.

When You Need Revenue Intelligence

Problem: Can't forecast accurately, no visibility into deal health, reps aren't following process.

Solutions:

• Gong or Chorus: Call recording, conversation analytics, deal insights ($1,200-$1,800/user/year)
• Clari: Revenue forecasting, pipeline management ($75-$150/user/month)

When to add: When you have 5+ AEs and forecasting accuracy is <70%.

When You Need Better Customer Success

Problem: Churn >5%, no visibility into customer health, reactive support.

Solutions:

• ChurnZero or Gainsight: Customer health scoring, automated playbooks ($1,000-$3,000/month)
• Intercom or Zendesk: Support ticketing, live chat ($60-$120/agent/month)

When to add: When you have 50+ customers and churn is impacting growth.

When You Need Marketing Attribution

Problem: Don't know which channels drive revenue, can't justify marketing spend.

Solutions:

• Dreamdata or HockeyStack: B2B attribution, customer journey tracking ($500-$2,000/month)
• Bizible (Adobe): Enterprise attribution for Salesforce users ($2,000-$5,000/month)

When to add: When marketing spend >$10K/month and you can't attribute revenue to specific channels.

When You Need Account-Based Marketing

Problem: Targeting enterprise accounts, need coordinated marketing + sales motion.

Solutions:

• 6sense or Demandbase: Intent data, account engagement, ABM orchestration ($2,000-$5,000/month)
• Terminus: Lighter ABM platform for mid-market ($1,000-$2,500/month)

When to add: When average deal size >$50K and you're targeting named accounts.

The Integration Strategy

Tools are useless if they don't talk to each other. Here's how to avoid integration hell:

Rule 1: CRM Is the Hub

Every tool should sync data back to your CRM. If a tool doesn't have a native CRM integration, think twice before buying it.

Rule 2: Use a CDP Early

Once you hit 5+ tools, add Segment. It's cheaper to do this proactively than to fix broken integrations later.

Rule 3: Avoid Point-to-Point Integrations

Don't connect Tool A directly to Tool B. Route everything through your CDP or integration platform (Zapier/Make).

Why? When you replace Tool B, you don't have to rebuild 10 integrations.

Rule 4: Document Everything

Create a data flow diagram showing:

• What data each tool collects
• Where it sends that data
• What triggers sync events
• How often data syncs

When something breaks (it will), you'll know where to look.

How to Avoid Tool Bloat

Every tool you add increases complexity exponentially. Here's how to stay disciplined:

The 3-Question Filter

Before buying any new tool, answer these:

1. Can our CRM do this? — Many features you're buying exist in your CRM. You just haven't configured them.
2. What's the adoption risk? — If reps need to log into another tool, they won't use it. Only add tools with native integrations.
3. What's the ROI threshold? — Tool should either save time (>10hrs/week) or directly increase revenue (>3x the cost).

The Annual Audit

Every 12 months, review every tool:

• What's the actual usage? (Most tools have analytics)
• Is it still solving the problem we bought it for?
• What would break if we turned it off?

We've helped clients cut their tool stack by 30-40% just by eliminating tools no one uses.

The $1M Stack

If you're at $1M-$3M ARR, start here:

1. HubSpot CRM + Marketing Hub ($1,200/month)
2. Google Analytics 4 (free)
3. Slack + Zoom + Calendly ($25/user/month)
4. One prospecting tool (Apollo or ZoomInfo if doing outbound)

Total cost: $1,500-$3,000/month

The $5M Stack

If you're at $5M-$10M ARR, add these:

1. Everything from the $1M stack
2. Segment CDP ($500-$1,500/month)
3. Revenue intelligence (Gong or Clari)
4. Customer success platform (ChurnZero)
5. Attribution platform (Dreamdata)
6. Business intelligence (Mode or Metabase)

Total cost: $8,000-$15,000/month

The $10M+ Stack

Beyond $10M ARR, you need enterprise-grade tools:

1. Salesforce CRM + Marketo
2. Segment CDP (Enterprise plan)
3. Looker or Tableau for BI
4. Gong + Clari for revenue intelligence
5. Gainsight for customer success
6. 6sense or Demandbase for ABM
7. Full data team to manage everything

Total cost: $30,000-$60,000/month + data team salaries

Common Tech Stack Mistakes

1. Buying Too Early

Don't buy Gong when you have 2 AEs. Don't buy 6sense when you have zero ABM strategy. Wait until the problem is painful.

2. Buying Based on Demos

Every tool looks good in a demo. Run a 30-day trial with real data before committing to annual contracts.

3. Ignoring Data Quality

Tools amplify what you put into them. If your CRM data is garbage, adding more tools just spreads the garbage faster.

4. Over-Integrating

Just because two tools can integrate doesn't mean they should. Every integration is a potential failure point.

5. No Single Owner

Someone needs to own the entire tech stack. Usually this is the RevOps lead. Without an owner, tools get added randomly and never removed.

Build vs Buy

Should you build custom tools or buy off-the-shelf?

Buy: Anything that's not your core competency. CRM, marketing automation, analytics—these are solved problems. Don't reinvent them.

Build: Custom reports, internal workflows, unique integrations that give you competitive advantage.

The line is usually: Buy the tools, build the connective tissue.

Next Steps

Your tech stack should evolve with your business. What works at $1M breaks at $5M. What you need at $5M is overkill at $1M.

If you're not sure what tools you actually need, we do tech stack audits. We'll review your current tools, identify gaps, and recommend exactly what to add, remove, or replace.