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Is That the Best You Can Do? These days, everyone's a haggler. How to give your clients what they want without giving away the store.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Is That the Best You Can DoWhen closing a deal or finalizing a sale turns into a negotiation, small-business owners often end up on the losing side--particularly during a recession. Fortunately, there are several strategies small-business owners can adopt to help improve their knack for haggling.

According to business ethics expert and Elegant Solutions Consulting CEO Lauren Bloom, the simplest involves setting parameters in advance.

"Know exactly how far you can go to walk away feeling you got a reasonable deal," she says. "In fact, you can approach it as an opportunity to develop and package a new product."