U.S. Marine Lieutenant Mark Whitby was escorting a top secret caravan through a dangerous area of Afghanistan when his convoy was attacked by insurgents. By springing into action, Whitby manages to save his men and more importantly the top-secret passenger, but not without getting severely wounded himself.

Regaining consciousness in a hospital, Whitby learns that his fighting days are over. Reluctantly, he tries to chart a new future for himself but keeps coming up empty-handed. Then a strange package arrives. He opens it to find an old, dog-eared Gideon's Bible with hundreds of passages underlined and highlighted. Inside is an envelope with a cryptic handwritten note: "When all else fails..." it reads.

Mark and his new young bride are then led on a treasure hunt of sorts by Mark's estranged grandfather, an ex-Marine war hero himself, who is also one of the greatest salesmen who has ever lived. Rather than give his grandson a large inheritance, he will teach him the 12 secrets to salesmanship and open his eyes to the joy of practicing the art of selling in order to equip him for a fulfilling and prosperous life.