Pipeline vs. forecast: What's the difference?

Is there a difference between the pipeline and the sales forecast? Yes, there is a difference, and yes, it does matter. Sales people sometimes use these words interchangeably without giving it a lot of thought, or they may have worked for other organizations that had differing definitions of these terms.  Regardless, understanding what both mean and using them correctly is important for a number of reasons. Sales forecasting, in the general sense of predicting future revenues, can be divided into three types of process structures:

The Pipeline
The sales pipeline is the “meat and potatoes” of the process and consists of all opportunities at all stages in the sales cycle. The pipeline captures opportunities in the early phases, up to formal contract negotiation and proposal.

Though all future sales begin as leads from some source (cold calling, referrals, etc.), no unqualified or uncontacted lead should be in the sales pipeline. All unclosed sales, however, belong in the sales pipeline.