Definition
The activity of creating new qualified sales opportunities, through outbound, inbound, and referrals, so the sales pipeline has enough deals in it to hit revenue targets.
Lead generation produces contacts; pipeline generation is measured one step later, in qualified opportunities with a real deal value attached. Teams usually work backwards from a revenue target: if you close one in four qualified opportunities, you need four times your target in pipeline, and outbound is the lever you control most directly to build it.