The factors that play the role in success is solvent, concentration of nucleophile and the substrate.
What is reaction ?
When hybridized carbon containing a leaving group and nucleophile attack from the remote side of the leaving group then the reaction is known as reaction.
Factors depending on reaction:
Solvent: Polar aprotic solvents are very useful for this reaction as they increase the intermediate concentration and also solvate the nucleophile.
Nucleophile: More strong the nucleophile more is the rate of reaction.
Substrate:1° substrate react faster than 2° than 3°
The answer is to increase the surface area of the solute. You see it dissolves faster because there is a lot more water touching it when it is has a higher surface area.This can be achieved by crushing