Attendances have fallen in recent years since the Premiership side moved from Edgeley Park in Stockport to AJ Bell Stadium in Barton in 2012.
Sale have moved home games back to Friday nights for the upcoming season.
"I think there is some rebuilding to do because I think people in the early days of moving have had a pretty poor experience," Cotton told BBC Sport.
"That could be queuing up on a motorway, couldn't get away from the stadium, couldn't buy a drink at the ground. Listening to the things we're going to do to change that, if people come down from now they will find a very different experience.
"The infrastructure is still well away from where it needs to be but there are plans to develop that."
Cotton, 69, a former England and British and Irish Lions prop returned to Sale - a club he served as both a player and director - after Simon Orange's takeover of the Premiership side in June.
He has promised to be active in his role, despite his commitments with his clothing business.
"What I really want to see is a very strong north of England club that can compete at the highest level," he added.
"That is my motivation for giving up the precious thing that I have got, and that is my time.
"I think what was lacking before was that the board weren't very often represented at games home and away, and I think that is very wrong - board members will travel to away games and home games."
One of the standout announcements from Sale's new 10-man board was that director of rugby Steve Diamond will have a seat on it.
However, Cotton insists there will be no conflict of interest with a member of the coaching staff also working as a director.
"It will put no strain whatsoever on the relationship, we're here to support him," Cotton continued.
"We'll be working very closely with Diamond to make sure we can achieve the ambition which we all hold - if we went down we'd still be with them."
Diamond also confirmed they are close to signing a new full-back and are still looking for another player to add to their backline, with former Bath and London Welsh winger Nick Scott on trial with the club.

Justine Curran said the force had to restrict leave during summer and Christmas for operational reasons.
Head teachers in England can only grant absence during school time in "exceptional circumstances".
Ms Curran has asked head teachers to use their discretion to "fully consider" holiday requests.
In her letter, Ms Curran wrote: "I fully support the notion that every child needs to attend school regularly and absences should be minimised wherever possible."
She said that over the summer Humberside officers would be helping to police the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Nato Summit in south Wales.
Paul Yeomans chairman of the Humberside Police Federation, which represents junior officers, said his members supported the chief constable's call.
"They're not able to take their leave during the peak times and it is not their fault," he said.
If parents in England and Wales fail to ensure their children attend school, they may be issued with penalty notices of £50 to £100. Prosecution can result in a fine of up to £2,500, a jail sentence of up to three months or a community sentence.
In a letter to Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Education Secretary Michael Gove said the Department for Education guidance to head teachers "does not specify what constitutes exceptional circumstances".
He added: "Neither have we said that leave of absence can or cannot be granted to families of certain occupations."
John Killeen, head of South Cave Primary School and local representative of the National Association of Head Teachers union, said there was "inflexibility in a lot of professions".
"We have sympathy with the police service but it would make the head teacher's position untenable with the rest if the parent body if they started making exceptions."
New Sale Sharks chairman Fran Cotton has conceded they must work to restore their relationship with some fans.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The chief constable of Humberside Police has written to schools asking for the children of officers to be given holiday leave during term time.