Most companies don’t design their revenue operations; they inherit them.
Over time, tools are layered in, teams evolve, and processes emerge reactively. What starts as a lean go-to-market motion becomes a tangled mess of CRM workarounds, misaligned metrics, and manual reporting.
That’s why you need a RevOps framework: a structured way to unify marketing, sales, and customer success so you can scale without breaking.
In this post, we’ll walk through what a RevOps framework is, why your business needs one, and how to build or adopt the right one for your stage of growth.
What Is a RevOps Framework?
A RevOps framework is a system for coordinating how revenue-generating teams operate across four core pillars:
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People
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Process
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Technology
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Data
It provides a repeatable structure for:
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Aligning goals and incentives
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Orchestrating lead flow and handoffs
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Managing and integrating tools
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Tracking performance and forecasting accurately
It’s the operating system for your GTM engine.
At Project36, we’ve codified our own version called WaypointOS — a framework specifically designed for scaling B2B companies using platforms like HubSpot.
Why You Need a Framework (Not Just Tactics)
Without a framework, RevOps turns into firefighting:
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One team fixes a routing issue while another adds a new lifecycle stage
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Marketing builds attribution dashboards while sales rebuilds forecasting reports
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Everyone’s working, but no one’s operating from a shared playbook
A RevOps framework changes that. It gives you:
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A consistent language for diagnosing problems
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A roadmap for what good looks like
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Clarity on who owns what, and why
It transforms revenue operations from reactive to proactive.
What a Good RevOps Framework Includes
Not all frameworks are created equal. A strong RevOps framework should:
1. Align Around Lifecycle
Your lifecycle stages (from lead to close to renewal) should map clearly across all teams, with shared definitions and triggers.
2. Define Ownership
Every key object (leads, deals, contacts, companies) should have a clear owner at each stage — not just in the CRM, but in team accountability.
3. Prioritise Clean Data
The framework must enforce rules for input standards, enrichment, and hygiene. Bad data erodes trust and performance.
4. Guide Tool Selection
A RevOps framework helps you decide which tools to keep, remove, or consolidate — based on workflows, not vendor sales pitches.
5. Drive Reporting Clarity
You should be able to answer:
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How many leads turned into qualified opportunities?
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Where are deals stalling?
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What’s our true pipeline velocity?
These answers come from structured data and shared KPIs — both core outputs of a proper RevOps framework.
The 4 Pillars of WaypointOS: A Real-World Framework
At Project36, we developed WaypointOS because no off-the-shelf framework addressed the reality of fast-moving scaleups.
WaypointOS breaks RevOps into four practical workstreams:
1. Teams
Who’s doing what? We define roles, responsibilities, and workflows across marketing, sales, and customer success — so GTM works like a single unit.
2. Tech
We audit every tool in your stack. Is it helping or hurting? Then we redesign how platforms like HubSpot are used across the funnel — for clarity and automation.
3. Data
We establish a single source of truth for lifecycle, attribution, lead scoring, and forecasting. Clean, accessible data becomes the foundation for every decision.
4. Delivery
We build playbooks, dashboards, automations, and training into your day-to-day workflows. It’s not theory. It’s implementation.
This structure turns operational friction into focused execution.
How to Build (or Borrow) a RevOps Framework
Not every company needs to invent a framework from scratch. But you do need one that works for your:
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Stage of growth
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Team structure
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Sales process complexity
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Tech stack (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce, others)
Here’s how to get started:
Step 1: Audit What’s Already There
Start with a simple gap analysis. Ask:
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Where do leads fall through the cracks?
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What reports are no longer trusted?
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Where are tools being used inconsistently?
Use our HubSpot Auditor to identify low-hanging friction inside your CRM.
Step 2: Map Your Lifecycle and Hand-Offs
Document every funnel stage — from visitor to MQL to SQL to Closed-Won — and clearly define the transition rules and team responsibilities.
Step 3: Evaluate Data and Tool Hygiene
Are you capturing the right fields? Are properties standardised? Do all tools feed into your CRM with context?
Step 4: Align KPIs and Dashboards
Your marketing, sales, and CS leaders should be looking at the same metrics. If they’re not, your framework isn’t aligned.
Step 5: Apply Governance and Training
Every new hire should be onboarded into the RevOps system. Every quarterly planning session should include framework review.
What Makes a RevOps Framework Succeed (or Fail)
Success Looks Like:
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Clear funnel definitions used by all GTM teams
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Automation that reduces manual admin — not creates confusion
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Dashboards that leadership trusts
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Shared understanding of why a process exists and who owns it
Failure Looks Like:
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Teams creating shadow processes outside the system
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Sales blaming marketing for lead quality
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Marketing blaming ops for bad attribution
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Leaders managing revenue by gut, not data
A framework succeeds when it’s not just built — it’s adopted.
How Project36 Delivers Framework-Driven Results
We’ve worked with scaleups in SaaS, fintech, healthtech, and B2B services. In each case, the RevOps problem wasn’t tooling — it was system design.
With WaypointOS, we’ve helped clients:
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Rebuild lead qualification using shared scoring models
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Cut CRM admin time by 30% through smarter workflow logic
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Move from spreadsheet forecasting to dynamic dashboards
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Align GTM teams under one funnel with common metrics
And we do it through phased delivery — typically over a 90-day engagement — so change is sustainable and measurable.
When to Invest in a RevOps Framework
If you’re seeing any of these signals, it’s time to stop improvising and start operating:
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Your CRM is functional, but no one really trusts it
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Teams argue about what stage a lead is in
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Marketing is driving leads, but sales says they’re “bad”
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Reporting lives in spreadsheets instead of dashboards
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You’ve automated a lot, but can’t explain half of it
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Leadership is guessing — not managing by data
These are symptoms of missing structure. A RevOps framework is the fix.
Final Thought
Revenue Operations isn’t just a role. It’s a system.
And every system needs a framework.
Whether you’re building your first RevOps foundation or cleaning up a growing tech stack, the right framework can help you scale with clarity, alignment, and confidence.
If you're ready to stop patching holes and start building systems that work, WaypointOS might be the framework you need.
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Learn how we build and deliver RevOps systems
Run a free HubSpot audit
Speak with our team about applying WaypointOS in your company
