The pace of business, that is the rate at which you take a prospect to customer status and the speed at which they expect  you to respond, is faster than ever before. Even more so, the pace of business is accelerating. It is not an illusion brought on by age, but a reality of the connected world in which we live.
Communications technologies including the internet, email, cell phones, VOIP and others were the first major contributors to the accelerated pace of business. Customers have access to easy and fast information and they expect easy and fast access to you too. Then came social media. Blogs, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Facebook, Ustream, and others created and continue to create vast extended networks of people with common interests.
Social media in this way is driving a faster pace of business by creating a cultural expectation of immediacy and by accelerating the speed of word of mouth (be it good or bad). The online word of mouth arena with your business at the center has grown to unprecedented size. Each video view, blog view, tweet and post is a part of a larger swarm of conversation that may be for you, against you, or ignoring you. Only one of these leads consistently to positive outcome.
Over the next few years, I see social networks expanding. In short, anything that will help to automate or semi-automate the lower end of the business prospecting cycle will be well received. The best way to get business in the future social media market may be through short term bidding or must-apply opportunities. A great example of this is Maria Andros, self proclaimed video marketing queen, who dominates YouTube and Twitter. She opened a competition for a limited number of spots as her customer for personal coaching, to great success.
The better news is that the social media age, the very thing that produced this fast-paced environment, also gives you the tools to make it your advantage and that goes way beyond marketing. Turn social media into your double agent by using it to find, keep and cultivate that talent. Then, use communications in all its forms to optimize your proposal and business processes for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Do that and you will accelerate your organizational performance to peak capacity and keep it there.